


Carried Away By A Moonlight Shadow

by AvecPardon



Series: Parlourverse Mainline (Reborniverse Rewrite) [3]
Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Gen, Gun Violence, Original Character(s), Tags May Change, Temporary Character Death, fivenightsatfreddysfanfiction (blog), idk how medical stuff work so expect inaccuracies, or police work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-02 21:47:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17271710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvecPardon/pseuds/AvecPardon
Summary: In those precious two hours before the night shift starts, a band of thieves breaks into Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza and take Mike hostage, forcing him to drive Jeremy away. But the animatronics don’t like strangers in their territory and especially not those who take their guards away. With Mike caught in the middle, the Fazbear Bands are on the move to deal with the threat while the thieves hunt for something more valuable than cash….





	1. 10:00 PM

**Author's Note:**

> Thieves have broken into Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. They’ve taken Mike hostage, they’ve driven Jeremy away, and what they are after is anything but cash. Can the Fazbear Bands hold off their glitches and the ghost children to save Mike?

**10:00 PM**

 

“…that’s the last of ‘em,” Mike murmured, walking along the hallway after shooing a couple of kids out of the bathrooms and back towards their parents. Ever since that night with the Kid, as Mike took to calling them in his head, he made sure to thoroughly check bathrooms for stray kids. No need for Jeremy to be stuck with one overnight.

Thinking of the younger guard brought a quick grin to his face. Mike couldn’t help but feel puffed up and proud that his little buddy admired him so much. Real confidence booster, that one. And fucking _smart_! He usually hated smartasses, like the ones that pushed him around when he was in school, but this kid was just… sweet, like Doll would say. Stubborn as shit, though, won’t quit working at this place till he figures out some mystery about 1987.

Mike liked to think Jeremy got that from him.

 _“Michael~!”_ Chicacoo trilled happily, waving at him from the stage as he walked through the game area towards Prize Corner. Mike didn’t bother looking her way, just flipped his middle finger up at her without a beat. _“That’s a naughty!”_

 _“Says the one who keeps trying to tempt him into doin’ the nasty with you,”_ BonBon snickered. Fred twitched, hands clapping over his ears as the chicken turned on her friend and playfully slapped at BonBon’s arm.

 _“I don’t wanna know! Lalala! I didn’t **hear** that!”_ Fred wailed. Mike sighed as he reached the giant prize box and began cranking the handle attached to it, charging up the built-in music box.

“Fuck my life. Why can’t they just be brainless robots that don’t fucking try to kill us?” he complained to himself. Even Jeremy’s reset command didn’t last long on them, flipping them back to normal for only a half hour once a night.

Oh well, at least having **that** as an edge made him feel better about the kid working the night shift.

The sound of glass shattering halted everyone in the room, Mike whipping around and looking in the direction of the sound, confusion and alarm on his face. _'What the hell was that?’_

The Fazbear Band on stage all froze as well, mirroring Mike’s baffled expression. More glass shattering sounded, unnaturally loud in the empty pizzeria. The day guard left the prize box, walking by the stage again on his way to investigate. Whatever was doing that, would it give Jeremy problems on his watch? Better get rid of it, keep his best friend safe.

 _“Hey, where are you going?”_ Fred asked with a frightened expression, edging behind BonBon and pulling his hat down to clutch protectively. _“Y-You’re the security guy! Protect us!”_

“Protect your own furry ass. I’m looking out for Jeremy,” Mike declared flatly, one hand resting on his hip near his taser. Chicacoo hurried to the edge of the stage, hands clasped together as she watched him head for the entrance to the main hallway.

 _“Michael?”_ she called out and for some reason the tone of her voice was enough to make Mike stop and look over his shoulder at her. A worried expression on her face made her seem almost cute and likable. _“Be careful,”_ she simply said.

Mike glanced away, frowning slightly, then he met her gaze and nodded once before leaving the game area.

 

\---

 

His senses always did seem so much sharper in Freddy’s Pizza than anywhere else. Mike scowled as he quietly moved towards the direction of the sound of glass breaking, crunching under heavy weights, hushed voices and growling tones. This far from the main layout of the pizzeria was the stock room, maintenance room, mainframe office, and the kitchens that connected to the pizza bar out front. The animatronics never come this way, so there had been no need to install cameras or patrol the area. That had been Boss’s logic at least.

_'And like **everything** **else** , it comes back to **bite** us in the asses. Fuck me sideways….’_

Whatever was making that noise was coming in from the rear entrance. The original security office was near there and had glass windows to let the guard see outside the building as well. It was abandoned after too many other night guards used those windows to flee the place; that had been before Mike’s time and the remodeling.

Now, though, -and Mike paused at the turn to the office, bending to one knee to hide himself better and peek around the corner- now it was being used for another purpose.

_'What. The. **Fuck.** ’_

A group of men stood around the abandoned office door, dressed in dark clothes and ski masks, guns in their hands or on their hips. Mike stared in shock, jaw dropping slightly. _'Oh, you have **gotta** be **shittin’** me! What the hell is **this**?!’_ Robbers? **Real** robbers in the pizzeria? For **what**?! This place still had _shit_ for cash!

He wasn’t paid enough to deal with robbers and guns while he only had one little taser. He was **so** out of-

Jeremy.

_’ **Fuck!** Nono **no**. Gotta warn him!’_

Mike pulled out his phone, flicking it open… only to give a muffled gasp as a hand suddenly looped around to cover his mouth in a strong grip, cold metal jabbing painfully under his jaw. He froze, eyes wide, terror-stricken. A dark chuckle directly behind him, hot breath rushing by his ear.

“ _My_ , what a pretty bird I’ve caught,” a rough voice crooned. “You weren’t about to sing a sad song, **were** you?”

His hands were shaking, clutching the phone tight. God, he fucked up. He was going to die, not to shitty robots, but to random thugs. How did the guy even sneak up on him? His senses… he _should_ have _heard_ _something_!

“Get up. Nice and slow. No tricks.” The guy rubbed the metal against his skin and Mike flinched. “You catch on quick. Up.”

He got to his feet, gasping for air as his face was finally released. The hand now gripped his shoulder -the bad one! Bandaged, scarred, still weak from dislocation so long ago!- and he whimpered in pain, staggering backwards and falling against his captor.

“Plenty of time for that later, my pretty bird,” the guy behind him sneered and jabbed the gun barrel into the small of his back. “Move. Around the corner. Hands up.” He raised his voice. “Router! I’m comin’ up with first catch!”

“Oh fucking hell. **Another** one?”

Another jab. Mike forced his legs to carry him forwards, hands raised for show. “L-Look. You guys are masked, I didn’t see a damn thing, and this place hasn’t got shit for money to take!” he stammered, heart racing as he rounded the corner to face the rest of the robbers. They were all looking at him, some with snide grins, some scowling, some uncaring. How many? Mike tried to count, but only got to six before his panic refused to let him think clearly.

One of them stepped forward, looking up at him with a squint. “Doesn’t look like much. He’s the only security this place has, right?”

“Day guard, Router; goes by Mike Schmidt. The night watch doesn’t show for another forty-five minutes,” the guy behind him reported and Mike stiffened, blood draining from his face. They had been watched; these assholes had staked the place, knew about him and Jeremy!

“Leave the night guard out of this!” Mike blurted out, vision tunneling at the mental image of red painting the tile once again. “I’m his supervisor! Let me call him, tell him to take a night off! It’s Friday, he doesn’t work weekends unless called in and I can _cancel_ it!”

The one called Router tilted his head, eyes squinting again. “Panther, you gonna be satisfied with just taking this one?” he asked thoughtfullly. Mike cringed at the low laugh behind him, the hand on his shoulder squeezing into the old wound.

“I smell old blood on him. Yeah… I’m keeping _this_ one. The little mouse would be nothing more than a toy. No threat.”

Pretty bird, now little mouse. Mike did **not** like those pet names. His skin crawled just hearing them, and anger flashed, hot and sharp in his brain.

“You have one chance to call off the night watch.” Router grabbed at his hand with the phone in a surprisingly strong grip. “Screw it up, we take him out when he shows.” He let go, stepping back to look after the other robbers for a moment.

_**'No!’** _

Mike felt lightheaded, nodding numbly as he put down his hands to open it and find Jeremy’s number. Before he could dial, the phone in his hand began playing a song. _“Carry on, my wayward son~! There’ll be peace when you are done~! Lay your weary head to rest~! Don’t you cry no more!”_

Router turned his head, looked at the phone, then up at Mike… then smiled slowly as Mike froze in place, clutching the ringing phone to his chest. “You _lied_ to me, Mr. Schmidt,” he purred, stepping towards him. “You’re not **just** his supervisor. You’re his _father_.” He huffed a dry laugh, “Or close enough. Get rid of him, or **I** will. My way is more _permanent_.”

He could barely see, barely feel anything. His hands opened the phone and pressed the button to answer, even as his every instinct screamed out in horror. There was no way to stop Jeremy from coming to Freddy’s, not with his goal and stubbornness helping him get over his easily panicked nature. There were no words, no lies, that could cleanly shoo him away.

God, he was a fucking piece of **shit** for doing this.

 _“Mike! I’m on my way over early. I thought we could do the last patrol longer together, and I brought some sodas and a lunch-”_ Jeremy’s voice spilled out words in a cheerful flood and Mike closed his eyes, hating himself all the more.

“You’re fired. Don’t bother coming.”

_“Wha-? M-Mike, don’t **do** that. Th-that’s a bad prank to play-”_

“Are you fucking **deaf**? I got promoted today, so I can fire little shits like you. You show your face here, I’ll kick your ass.”

_“Hah? Ah… wah… b-but… I don’t… Mike… you **know** what this job **means** to me! Please! Wh-why are you-?!”_

Keeping the hurt out of his words was so hard, anguish fighting with rage at hearing the robbers snickering, bastards, the lot of them. “You’re fired, I ain’t sayin’ it _again_ , punk. I swear to fuckin’ god, you come here tonight, and I’m gonna have a **long** talk with your father about what his shithead kid’s been doing with his time.”

There was a long and heavy silence, broken by the sounds of Jeremy’s whimpers and sniffling. _“…fine. Please don’t tell Mom,”_ Jeremy murmured sadly. _“I was gonna show you this trick I learned from Angel, but forget it. Forget **everything**! I hope you’re **ready** for **Freddy,** you j-jerk!”_ And then the connection was cut.

 _Shit._ He caught on, played along, and was **still** _coming_. Mike wanted to laugh even as he barked out a sob and dropped the phone, covering his face with his hands. Fucking kid. So damn _smart_.

Router stomped on the phone, crushing it under his heel. “Tie him up and get him out of the way,” he ordered, pointing at Mike as he strode past. “Ready the gear. We have till 6 AM to pack everything and get gone.”

Mike struggled, cursing and kicking as his arms were yanked back, bound at the wrists by zipties while another masked man stepped up to strip the taser from his belt. “Let me **go**! I’m telling ya, there’s no **money** worth all this shit! Just get **out** of here! I _swear_ I won’t _say_ shit! _Let me go!_ ” he yelled, thrashing about even as he was dragged towards the maintenance room by the big lug called Panther. God, time, **time!** He couldn’t see his watch and he couldn’t tell how much he had left before midnight. “Hey! **Hey** , don’t leave me here at midnight! Whatever you _want_ , just **take** it and get **out** before midnight!”

“Ah, but what you fail to realize, Mr. Schmidt,” Router purred as he checked his gun, “is that what we _want_ shows up at midnight and beyond.”

 

**10:30 PM**

 

 _“He’s taking a pretty long time,”_ Fred worried, sitting on the stage as he turned his hat over and over. BonBon rolled her eyes -yes, she felt like a _she_ now, _she_ felt right- and stretched her arms over her head, ears bobbing back to avoid being hit.

 _“He’s probably fapping in the bathroom before Jeremy shows up. Hey, Chicacoo, didn’t you try to pin him there once?”_ She looked towards the other animatronic still standing watch at the corner closest to the exit. When Chicacoo didn’t respond she sighed and walked over. _“Girlfriend, you lock up already? We still have time before the glitch, you wanna hang?”_ she asked, slinging an arm across her shoulders. _“C'mon, you get to tell me about the time you yanked Mike’s pants off before Four-Eyes reset you. You like telling me about that shit.”_

 _“Something’s not registering correctly,”_ Chicacoo whispered, worried expression unchanged. _“Listen.”_ BonBon raised an eyebrow, then shrugged and stretched her audio sensor range. Humor the little weaboo. Behind her, she detected Fred doing the same.

Ping, ping, ping. 50 pings.

BonBon’s arm dropped, alarm on her face. _“That’s too much noise for Mike. And his unique ping rate is too low,”_ she realized, stepping forward without thinking. Her foot stopped shy of the stage’s edge. _“There are **other** people here, **after** hours.”_

 _“Criminals?”_ Fred asked, getting up to join them. _“What do we do? Run security protocol?”_

 _“They have Michael. If we run that, they’ll use him as a shield,”_ Chicacoo said with a shake of her head. Her eyelashes fluttered as she considered things. _“Jeremy-chan should be here soon, but not soon enough. We **have** to save Michael first.”_ She looked up at BonBon. _“We don’t have access to a hostage situation procedure. But… Mangle still has connection to the radio, right?”_

 _“When she’s not screaming broadcasts about those dead kids and the Bite of '87, yeah,”_ BonBon replied dryly, rubbing her pinky against one ear. _“Why?”_

 _“She probably knows how policemen deal with hostages. Tell her to go find Michael and get him out of the way,”_ Chicacoo told her and eyed the floor with a determined glare.

 _“And then what?”_ Fred asked in confusion as Chicacoo pulled her beak from her face and stowed it in an internal chamber, turning to show her wide smile of pointed endoskeleton teeth, eyes pitch black with gleaming white pupils.

 _“͟Why͠, we ͢gi͝v̛e͝ ͜ţh̛em̛ a ͡ģo҉od̛ o̧ld F̴r̡eddy ͜F̶azb͜ear̕ ̷Weļcom͢e ͢to̷ t̕he ̛B͡and!”_ she laughed, her voice dropping to more electric harsh tones, and she stepped off the stage.

 _“We’re gonna get screamed at for breaking rules again, but **what-ev-er,** ”_ BonBon muttered, turning away to grab her guitar and summon Mangle. _“Let’s save the fuckin’ furry so you can try to grab his ass again. God, I just wanted to **relax** tonight….”_


	2. 10:45 PM

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Toy Fazbear Band takes matters into their own hands while Mike struggles to free himself from the burglars and their strange intentions. But things take a turn for the worse when he discovers what they’ve come to Freddy’s for….

**10:45 PM**

 

Mike lay on his side, glaring at the door that seemed to taunt him. After Panther had pulled him into the maintenance room and spent a few minutes playfully pushing the boundaries of his personal space -Mike's throat felt a little raw from screaming his fury at the closeness-, the man finally left him there. Only, he purposely left the door unlocked, smiling widely as he closed it. Good reason; Mike's ankles were bound as well, after one kick actually hit another thug in the balls and dropped him like a rock. Panther had happily tied him up further, letting his hand rest on his ankles for far longer than necessary.

The door opened partially and Mike glowered at Panther's grinning mug peering in from around it. " **Don't** fucking come **near** me," he growled. He was already planning on scrubbing himself once all this was over and burying himself in Doll's hugs. The burglar just kept smiling. "What the hell are **you** smiling for?" Mike added bitingly. "Once midnight hits, you ain't gonna be smiling."

"My pretty bird has such fight. I like that," Panther purred, laughing as Mike squirmed in place to gain more distance.

"Wh-what the _fuck_ is **wrong** with you?! **What** is your **deal** with me?!" he yelled, half-outraged and half-terrified. Seriously, _why_ was this asshole obsessed with him? The burglar made to say something when the sound of pipes clanging together echoed through the mostly abandoned section of the pizzeria. Mike's eyes went wide, jaw dropping as he immediately looked to the ceiling. A vent cover was tucked in a corner of the room. _Fuck._

"What the **hell** is that?" Panther wondered, squinting around himself in confusion as he shut the door again.

"Hey! _Wait!_ Don't **leave** me here!" Mike yelled, renewing his struggles to break the zipties. They bit into his wrists, rubbing raw against already sore skin, and he sprained an ankle trying to get his feet freed. " _God fucking dammit!_ I am **not** getting my ass thrown in some fucked up Fazbear suit just because **you** shits out there _don't know what you're **doing**!_"

There was shouting outside the door. "It is too early! You said the information was for midnight!" someone in an accented voice barked out in frustration.

"We don't have all the cases prepared yet. Can we still offline a few and buy time to get the rest ready?"

"...Alright, since I **apparently** assembled a team of chicken-shits, we can take down a few of them for packing. Just don't fucking _damage_ the inner hardware! The shells are useless, but the endos are what we want!"

Mike went still, curling up and breathing hard from effort as he turned that over in his head. Hardware? Endos? These guys were here for the extra endoskeletons in Parts and Service? He managed a laugh, resting his head against the floor while waiting for the pain in his arms and legs to subside. Oh, these assholes were **so** not ready for Freddy. It was still far too early for the robots to start their killing attempts but if they went after Router and his bunch, who the hell was he to complain? Still, he wanted to find someplace else to hide. Preferably without vents-

A clatter of metal falling, the sound of crackling static filling the room. Mike froze, breath caught in his throat. _'Nooo, shit, **shit**! I'm dead, so **dead**. Oh god, Doll, I'm so sorry. I love you, I love you so much, please-!'_

He couldn't move, could only apologize desperately in his own head as The Mangled poked her snout out of the open vent, then let her head emerge, slowly twisting it on her elongated neck until she spotted him on the floor.

_'Jeremy, I'm so sorry you're going to find me like I found the others. Oh god, **please** , get the **hell** out of here as soon as you do. **Fuck** that 1987 bullshit, just **live** , son, **please**!'_

Mangle dropped to the floor with surprising grace and silence, her static softening to a hum, white noise, head tilting as her golden eyes remained locked on Mike. Outside the room, the thugs yelled in unison, pounding feet growing faint as the men ran off. Mangle's mouth pulled up into a smile as her other head flopped into view, laughing gleefully.

_"Ha! Prank like ya meme it!"_ the head known simply as Endo exclaimed. _"Chase the big blue bunny butt!"_

Mike didn't understand any of that. The words washed over him, meaningless; his focus was on watching Mangle in fear, murmuring apologies softly while he tried to be strong enough to at least face his approaching death. He tensed, holding his breath and going quiet as she slowly crawled towards him, her eyes never wavering from his.

_Cold_ , **hot** , _cold_ , **hot** , like his body couldn't figure out the temperature. Mike ground his teeth together, eyes growing wider with rising panic as Mangle opened her jaws, sharp teeth gleaming in the dim light, and lowered her mouth to his feet. Shit, _shit_ , she was gonna crunch on him, paralyze him, kill him in pieces from the bottom up _what had he done to deserve-_!

_-Snip!-_

Mike let out a startled yelp as the zipties binding his ankles were cut open, Mangle's jaws carefully biting each one with eerie accuracy. As much as he wanted to start kicking, she was still near his legs, those were _very_ sharp teeth, and he wasn't **that** stupid. What the _hell_ was going on? Why was Mangle cutting the ties?

_"Hey, hey, Mangle, hurry it up!"_ Endo whispered, hiding himself behind her neck... or what passed for a neck anyway. Mangle continued crawling onward, squinting as she looked over the rest of Mike's body before carefully nudging against his shoulder.

_"Turn over. I can't reach those without slitting yer wrists if ye lay like this,"_ Mangle hissed softly.

"Like _fuck_ am I turning **my** back on you!" Mike snapped back shakily, wriggling in place in discomfort. Personal space, did _everything_ he hate have to invade his personal space? **Hot** , _cold_ , **hot** , _cold_.

A gloved hand grabbed his shoulder as Mangle bared her teeth in a snarl, her static crackle flaring in volume for a moment. _"Why do ye have to **fight** so damn much?! Little shit!"_ she growled, flipping him onto his stomach as Mike began thrashing in place, kicking and yelling in a fury. _"Hold still or I'll simply bite yer hands off and be done with it!"_

He froze, eyes squeezing shut as he cringed, preparing himself for agony.

_-Snip!-_

His hands were freed.

_"Yer welcome,"_ Mangle huffed, lifting her nose into the air as she flowed off of him in a wave of shifting parts and metal, leaving Mike to lay on his stomach and stare at her in utter confusion. _"Are ye going to just stay there like the useless shit ye are, or will ye be getting up so we can **leave** this room?"_

"What the fuck is going _on_?" Mike asked, too stunned by what had just happened to inject any heat into the words. Mangle just leveled a lidded glare at him, a limb reaching out to open the door.

_"Mm-hm. BonBon owes me two mani-pedis for this,"_ she declared and skittered up the wall to the vent again. _"Next time, Mike; we'll be taking yer data next time. For tonight, just run."_ She vanished into the ventilation system while Mike pushed himself to sitting, rubbing his wrists carefully and letting his feet recover. As the last bits of her slithered out of sight, her voice echoed back a lingering purr of advice. _"And watch yer back, Jack~."_

\-----

_"No one **said** they were **armed**! We're **not equipped** to deal with people who are **armed**!"_ BonBon screamed as she bolted down the hall, Fred running as fast as he could to keep up.

_"We're not equipped to deal with Mike and his **taser** ; how did Chicacoo think we could deal with people that have **guns**?!"_ he wailed. _"They're not even Nerf guns!"_

The rapid bursts of fire going off behind them spurred them on ever faster, the two animatronics diving into a party room and pressing themselves against the wall, covered by darkness despite the lack of a concealing door. They huddled there, waiting for the thundering footsteps and shouting voices to pass them by and fade.

_"This might be harder than originally thought,"_ BonBon admitted quietly, wrapping her arms around her knees with a worried look.

_"These guys have Mike prisoner,"_ Fred reminded them both in a horrified whisper, staring down at his own legs sticking straight out in front of him as he sat against the wall. _"They're not **like** us. They won't take his data; they'll destroy him completely."_

BonBon nodded, a faintly queasy expression flickering over the worry on her face. _"I'd hate to say it, but I think we might need to talk to the prototypes for help on this,"_ she muttered. She turned her head, looking out of the party room entrance as she extended her audio range again.

Ping, ping, ping. 30 pings.

_"We're clear,"_ BonBon sighed in relief, getting up and grabbing her guitar. _"C'mon. Let's find Chicacoo. She should still be searching the back rooms with Mangle."_

_"Jeremy's still got a way to go before he shows up, doesn't he?"_ Fred muttered before blinking and looking up at the rabbit indignantly, _"H-hey! You don't tell **me** what to do! **I'm** the leader of the band!"_

_"I'll believe that when you're not whining to Freddy every five minutes to explain to you about the birds and the bees."_

_"It's not **my** fault I don't know what a sex is! Other than it's something Chicacoo wants and Mike keeps kicking her out the office over it...."_

The hall was empty now, with various small shells dropped here and there over the floor. BonBon frowned at them, accessing the police network and running a search on similar images of the shells. _"Why were we being shot at?"_ she wondered aloud, turning down another hall and retracing her steps to the far back rooms.

It didn't make any sense, not logically. She and Fred were obviously not human. Bullets would not destroy them; damage, yes, but not to the extent the bullet's nature intended. Yet these were larger, overkill on a human. Were these chosen specifically to attempt to damage the animatronics? Why? Because of their security modes?

If that was the case, then it stood to reason that the pizzeria was being robbed. But if that were also true, then given that no one else was around and the animatronics -to these strangers- were simply 'dumb robots', why attack them and why take Mike hostage?

_"What are these jerks after?"_ BonBon mused, squinting as she and Fred kept walking.

\-----

 

**11:00 PM**

 

_'Shit. Fuck. Fucking... **shit**.'_

Mike kept up the stream of cursing in his own head as he limped down the hall away from the maintenance room, cradling his throbbing arm close to his chest. Old memories sparked and flickered in his brain, fuzzy but familiar. An injured leg, an injured arm, struggling down a hall to safety; he remembered doing this before... oh, yeah, with the Kid. Hard to pull up memories sometimes, brain injury and all.

_'Get to the office. Get the phone. Call Jeremy back. Don't come, call the cops.'_

An hour to midnight. He checked the time as soon as he got over his daze to do it. Mike sighed, carefully testing his weight on his ankle every few steps. He'll punch in Jeremy's card and take the night shift himself. Maybe he'll get lucky and the fucking psycho-bots will go after the thugs instead of him.

Ugh, he was gonna have to wear a mask again....

Mike rounded the corner just in time to see Panther walking down the same hall. _'Fuck me sideways!'_

"Hey! How'd you get out?!" the burglar yelled in surprise. Mike bolted back where he came, ignoring the sharp pain running up his leg as he fled. He could hear heavy footsteps chasing after him, catching up quickly.

A vent! If he could get to a vent cover, he could use the same travel trick the animatronics used and escape that way. Chica once pulled him through a vent when he was trying to get away from her 'sister'. He could fit just fine, he just had to-!

" **Where's** my pretty bird _going_?" Panther growled, hands clamping down on Mike's shoulders and yanking him backwards, throwing him against a wall.

_"Gngh!"_ Shoulder aching, ankle screaming in pain. "Get the **hell** _away_ from me!" Mike yelled in alarm, dodging the bulkier man's attempt to body slam him just in time to have Panther hit the wall face-first. Move, **move**! Hallway out was clear now!

A gunshot fired just ahead of him, hitting the floor, and Mike threw himself aside, staring at the damaged tile in shock before looking over at Panther. The other man pointed a handgun at him, grinning cruelly. "Pretty bird, get back here before I clip those wings of yours."

"Are you fucking _insane_?! What the hell are you **doing** shooting that thing in a pizza place?!" Mike yelled in a high, cracking voice, stepping backwards with his hands up. Oh, god, this was _happening_ ; Freddy's was being hijacked by crazy gunmen and he was gonna end up dead for shit wages. "What the fuck do you **want** from me?! Just let me go home!" _'So I can call the cops 'cause as fucked up as this is, I can't afford to get fired too!'_

The gun was cocked again, Panther huffing out laughter. "The smell of old blood," he said with a smile. "This place reeks of it, drinks it in so thirstily. And you... I can smell it. The blood of many others staining your hands."

_The other night guards, nametags left lying in pools of blood, and Mike had picked each one up in silence to hide in his locker. Over and over, a parade of names lost and faces destroyed._

"I...."

_His fingers were coated in congealed red, dripping as he carried each tag solemnly and placed it before the corresponding photo. And no matter how hot the water he used, how much soap he poured on, the feel of fading life never left him._

"You have potential, pretty bird. To be **just** like **me**."

"No... I'm not... would _never_...."

**Hot** , _cold_ , **hot** , _cold_ ; Mike turned his hands over to stare at them, seeing red where before there had just been white bandages on his right hand, uncovered flesh for his left. How many night guards had died under his 'protection'? Because of his failure to teach them how to survive?

He flinched as cold metal jabbed under his jaw, tilting his head to relieve the pressure, shoulders dropping as he fell back against the wall numbly. Cold, so _cold_. He closed his eyes, felt his heart sink in sorrow.

"That's my pretty bird. Dunno how you broke out of those ties... but I'm sure I have some cuffs that'll do the trick better," Panther muttered, looking to his waist distractedly.

_Jeremy._

Mike opened his eyes, rage surging up from within. _Jeremy_ survived, a whole week, and then another, and then another. _Jeremy_ broke the loop of his despair. **Jeremy** brought him hope alongside Doll. Those two together, his _family_ ; he was **not** letting them go, especially not to **this** asshole!

He jerked away from the gun, turning in place as he grabbed Panther's arm to keep the firearm away from himself as the thug yelled in surprise. _'One chance!'_ Mike sank his teeth into Panther's hand, biting down until he hit the joint of thumb and palm, and forced the man to drop the weapon.

Panther roared in pain, yanking his arm back as he swung the other, backhanding Mike away from himself. Face burning from the hit but still clear-headed enough to act, Mike ran for his life, pushing down the sharp jolts of his sprained ankle as he fled. Deal with it later, just **move** , just **go**!

**Hot** , _cold_ , **hot** , _cold_. Mike turned the corner and raced down the hall, desperate to reach the main section of Freddy's Pizza. Behind him, Panther raged and followed with thundering footsteps. Gunshots fired, wild and erratic, missing Mike completely as the burglar's aim nosedived in his blind fury.

**Hot** , _cold,_ **hot** , - _ **burning** -_, _cold_. Mike thought he felt a sting of something, but ignored it in favor of running. He turned another corner, raced by something tall and yellow - _fucking bird_ -, and headed straight for the easy-access janitor's closet, hand dropping down to his keyring.

Key out, door open. Hide until the threat was gone. Then call for help. Mike closed the door and locked it before backing away to bump his back against the far wall, breathing hard from exertion, sweat filming over his skin. Safe, for now.

The sting from earlier returned, more persistent and growing more painful. Mike blinked slowly, thoughts slowing down at last. A scream of rage sounded distantly, an animatronic roar that drowned out the background hum of the building's power supply. Part of him hoped Panther would get stuffed.

_'Hurts to breathe. My side... **don't** tell me I pulled a muscle. I stay in shape to survive this hellhole!'_

Mike pressed his hand to his side to relieve the growing pain... and went still, eyes wide and breath catching in his throat. Trembling, he carefully pulled his hand away and looked down at his palm.

His hand was completely coated in hot crimson liquid, dark in the dim light but still recognizable.

Mike swallowed hard, then forced himself to look at his own body, his left side, just below his ribs.

His shirt was heavily stained red, spread around a hole in the fabric.

_'Oh... no....'_

Mike pressed his hand back down against the gunshot wound, squeezing tears of pain and fear free as he shut his eyes tight and sagged against the wall, still trembling, unable to stop from uttering a tiny, shaky sob.

"H-Help me...."


	3. 11:10 PM

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike's been shot, the animatronics are scattering, and Jeremy has yet to show himself. What more could go wrong?

**11:10 PM**

 

BonBon lifted her head, eyes briefly turning black as her ears swiveled to alert. _"Shot fired,"_ she reported, blinking as her eyes returned to bright green. _"This isn't good."_

_"We've only got fifty minutes left before we glitch and then-!"_ Fred cried, pulling on his own ears. _"Gaaaah! What do these stupid criminals **want**?! If they want money they can **have** it! We're only supposed to protect children from predators!"_

_"The staff as well, don't be forgetting that,"_ Mangle added, her ears twitching forward as her eyes narrowed. _"That shot be from where I left Mikey-boy."_ BonBon gave a small start, a gasp escaping her as her eyes widened.

_"Chicacoo is still out there looking for him!"_ she cried as several more loud bangs went off. _"That's a full clip!"_ BonBon shook her hands in a panic, then bolted for the distant rooms. Fred reached out with a cry of surprise.

_"H-Hey! What about-?!"_ he began just as a few of the robbers he and BonBon had been outrunning turned the corner into the Party Rooms hallway.

"There's one! Get it!" the men yelled, opening fire. Fred and Mangle screeched in equal parts surprise and anger before scrambling to duck into a room. The fox animatronic shot for the vent opening, skittering inside with a hiss and crackle of static. Fred slid in after her, scrambling and kicking his legs to wriggle through and away from danger.

This was humiliating! He was the leader of the new Fazbear Band; why did he have to go crawling through the vents like the others-?!

"Get its fucking leg! Drag that stupid thing out!"

Never mind! Fred clawed his way further into the ventilation tunnel, thumping along as he followed the clattering metal of Mangle's parts as she led the escape. Proximity sensors going off; the criminal bastards had _actually_ grabbed at his leg! Frightened, Fred crawled faster, pausing at the sound of Chicacoo's enraged roar.

What had happened? Was she okay? And what about BonBon?!

_"Jeremy, where are you?! Why isn't anyone coming to help?!"_ he wailed and scrambled onward. Hopefully the criminals wouldn't get the idea of crawling into the vents as well. That would be bad!

\----

**11:15 PM**

 

Bicycle wheels coasted over the asphalt parking lot in a silent glide towards Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Jeremy eyed the large armored truck parked behind the building and gave the pedals one more push to carry him the rest of the way to the bushes decorating the walls of the pizzeria. Once the bike was safely stashed, he grabbed his backpack and made for the windows to the kitchen.

Going through the front door would have been easier, but he had no way of telling if anyone was guarding it. And when he had tried to call Mike back after that first conversation, the phone only said he was out of service. That, along with his last message about having 'a long talk with his father', made Jeremy worry even more.

Jeremy's father, Jeremy Fitzgerald Sr., had been dead since 1989, driven to hang himself after witnessing the Bite of '87 and being accused of letting the murderer of several children tamper with the security programming of the animatronics. For Mike to say he would talk with his dead father, that was code for them, his way of saying he was in danger of dying without alerting anyone else around them.

He wasn't going to let **that** happen. He'd already lost a father; Jeremy **refused** to let anything take his father-figure best friend and coworker away.

The window was locked, but that was what the backpack was for. Opening it up, Jeremy pulled a small hatchet out and cringed as he smashed the glass with it. The sound just seemed unbearably loud. He kept hitting the window until he had a sizable opening, then pulled a blanket from the pack to toss over the sill. Now that the glass was covered and the entry made safe, Jeremy climbed through and into the kitchen.

He checked his watch, grimacing at the time. Only 45 minutes before his shift started and the animatronics went insane. If he could find one of them to take control first....

He groaned softly, dreading the idea of confronting any of the animatronics. If only he could call the police. But he had no idea what he was up against and for all he knew, police would make things worse. Did Mike being in danger have something to do with that truck outside? Jeremy hated unknowns, so dangerous and uncontrolled. His breaths started to quicken.

_'Ah, no no! Can't panic! Severo. Admin. Goto. Command.'_

He took slow breaths, one for each word of his mantra, until his thoughts stopped spinning and settled down. Focus. Prioritize. What needed to be done first to best help Mike?

Get control of the animatronic that can best move through the building and locate him.

Jeremy needed to find Mangle. Kids' Cove would be his first stop.

He shook off the blanket carefully and tucked it into his backpack again. While the flashlight was in his locker in the security office, his tablet and mask stayed with him. He wanted to question Boss on why those items were okay to take home, but Mike just pulled him aside each time and told him not to bother the manager about it. Strange, but now highly useful. He pulled it out and flipped it, checking the cameras out of habit.

_'Well... fuck me sideways and call me Mike.'_

Jeremy counted eight people dressed in black with masks and guns, roaming the halls of the pizzeria. The stage was empty, all three animatronics gone. Kids' Cove, Mangle was gone. The game area, BB was gone. **Where** the heck **was** everyone?! He checked the Prize Corner, fearful.

The music box kept playing, the prize box closed. The Marionette was still in place. Jeremy sighed in relief, pressing the key to remote charge the music box. Didn't need **that** thing on the loose.

Parts and Service, the old animatronics were moving around, looking panicked for some reason. What triggered them?

Jeremy flicked through all the cameras again, searching for any of the newer animatronics, the Toys as Mike called them once in a snide tone. Nothing... wait! There, in the main hall, Chicacoo was stalking through, dragging something along. He squinted, focusing the camera on her. The body of a large man was in her grip, face frozen in utter horror, eyes bulging. Jeremy covered his mouth with one hand, shaking as Chicacoo made her way to the front doors, pushed them open, and threw the body out. The doors closed and Chicacoo tilted her head at the glass before turning to look up at the camera, her black eyes gleaming.

Jeremy yelped, panic rising. _'Too early! The glitch is time sensitive, **why** is it triggering **now**?!'_ But then the chicken blinked, and the black was gone, her pretty pink returned to normal while she pulled her beak out of her body shell and fixed it back on her face. What the-?

Chicacoo pointed to the camera, then gestured beside herself, hand laid flat, as though to measure a person beside her. Shorter than her... him? Was she asking if he was at the camera? Jeremy flashed the light once. Chicacoo looked puzzled, then held up a finger, nodding. Then she held up two and shook her head. She measured again. Jeremy flashed the light once and Chicacoo looked relieved.

_'Where's Mike?'_ Jeremy wanted to ask, but the simple code wouldn't let him have the luxury of asking. Chicacoo must have figured it out anyway. She measured again, taller but not by much compared to herself, and shrugged, a helpless look on her face. She didn't know where Mike was. She pointed at the camera, then mimed poking at a tablet before sweeping her hand around to encompass her surroundings. Could he find Mike on the cameras?

Jeremy flicked around, searching for the day guard. The last time he did this, Mike had been found fairly quickly. This time, no sign of him. He went back to Chicacoo and flashed the light twice. She looked worried, hands clasping together. Jeremy sighed, sitting back against a set of cabinets as he curled over the tablet, shielding the light from it a little and watching the animatronic pace in a circle, wringing her hands.

He still needed to find Mangle, but the cameras didn't show anyone else moving around. Were there parts of the pizzeria where cameras were never placed? Jeremy swallowed hard, standing up as he kept his eyes on the tablet. He'd be walking around blind then. As a matter of fact.... He looked around himself, frowning thoughtfully at the kitchen. This place wasn't in the security camera system either.

...Or _was_ it?

He flipped the tablet, shining its light towards the ceiling and corners, a trick that Mike had taught him to use in case of emergencies. Ah! A camera! There was one here, but it didn't look active. Why not? He eyed it carefully. It looked connected, but the tablet wasn't picking it up. Was it blocked from the network?

He wheeled a stepstool over and climbed on, reaching out to tap at the camera. Nothing. Hm.

"Little One, are you with me?" Jeremy called out softly, slipping on his glasses and looking around. No haze of black, no shadowy child shape; would she only come to him at midnight? _'No easy hacking then.'_

The ghost child amplified Mike's vocal power and physical strength; for Jeremy, she enhanced his self-control and mechanical affinity. He didn't have much experience with that, had terrified himself the first few times he touched parts of the building and accidentally overloaded the circuit-breakers. But he did manage to figure out one enhancement, contact-based override.

But no Little One, no spirit enhancing. That was all right. Mike needed her more right now and Jeremy could do fine as long as he used his mantra properly.

Wonder if there were more cameras like this one?

He looked back down at the tablet in time to see that Chicacoo was looking away from the camera, crouching her stance before turning and fleeing the entrance. Why did she do _that_?

Jeremy got his answer a moment later, as three of the armed men raced after her, guns drawn and aimed. He heard the shots being fired almost in concert with the live feed. Shocked, he could only stand there and watch as another of the masked men strolled up to the center of the camera's view. That one paused, then looked up almost absently, eyes searching before spotting the camera. They smiled at it -at **him** \- and Jeremy swallowed hard.

What had he just gotten _into_? How could he get Mike **out** of this mess?

Suddenly, the supplies he brought with him still hidden in his backpack didn't seem like they'd be enough to deal with this.

\-----

**11:20 PM**

 

It seemed like it had stopped... for now at least.

Mike had packed several clean-looking towelettes against his back, a couple more to the exit wound in his side, and then pressed as hard as he could against the wall until he couldn't stand it. Heat gathered around his back and side, burning, soothing, until he felt himself grow drowsy and had to shake it off hard. Checking the wound after carefully peeling away the towelettes, Mike squinted at the flicker of black that covered the torn open flesh. Hallucination? Well, the bleeding had slowed to a crawl, so that was good at least.

He sighed tiredly, hand returning to its place over the exit wound to cover it. Legs somewhat stretched in front of him while he sat on the floor, Mike tried to recover his earlier thoughts. He'd been going to the office, needed to call the police, call Jeremy. Could he still do any of that?

He tried getting up, gritting his teeth as his head swam a little and pain seared out from his side in protest. _'No, **fuck** you, bullet hole. I'm protecting my fuckin' kid and **you won't stop** **me**.'_ His legs trembled and he had to hold the wall for stability before he could stand on his own, but he was up.

Opening the door, Mike peered out at the hall, listening carefully. The sound of gunshots went off in the distance and he briefly entertained the idea of staying in the closet until midnight. But those shots might be because of Jeremy and just that thought was enough to have Mike out and hurrying towards the sound. He stumbled every few steps, bracing his arm against the wall as soothing warmth ran under his skin, encouraging him to press on.

His mental layout of the pizzeria was fuzzy, couldn't hold the old section in his memory for long after the remodeling moved everything around in the expansion. But when he went down one branch, he felt an odd tug in the back of his mind to go another way. Like something _else_ directed his path. The helper that Jeremy hinted at ever since his brush with death some few months ago?

Whatever. Long as it led him to safety, to Jeremy or the office, he didn't care. The creepy part was thinking about the fact that something in the pizzeria was so damn interested in him.

The world suddenly dimmed to near black and Mike leaned more heavily against the wall, breathing hard as he pressed his hand more securely to his side. How much blood had he lost? Dizzy.

Should've used the bandage from his arm. Never was good at thinking ahead like that.

Once the world was back to normal, he continued walking, listening to thumps in the ventilation shafts overhead. _'What the **hell** are those assholes doing?'_ Seemed like nothing was acting right tonight.

Mike turned the final corner and stepped into the main hall of the newer layout of the pizzeria. His map cleared more in his mind now that he was on more immediately familiar ground.

Camera! If Jeremy was here, he'd start checking cameras. Mike just needed to get in front of one and wait to be seen. Heh, this planning shit didn't seem so hard.

Or better yet, just get his ass in the office. It was right down the party room hall nearby. He sighed and turned down that way, limping as he applied more pressure to his side. He could feel blood seeping through his fingers again, slow but certain. Mike huffed softly, a flicker of bitter resignation crossing his face. There wasn't anything he could do. If he couldn't get help before midnight, he'd be stuck in the pizzeria and simply bleed out.

It wasn't _fair_.

\----------

**11:25 PM**

 

Jeremy hurried down the unfamiliar halls, following the pattern of thumps coming from the walls and ceiling as Mangle led him back to the main section of the pizzeria.

 

After he had left the kitchen, he bumped into BonBon, the blue bunny panicked to the point they didn't even give him the stink-eye, just grabbed his arms and shook him, wailing how they couldn't find Chicacoo anywhere. Jeremy, dazed by the strangeness of not being attacked without his mask, simply said the first thing he always did when it came to BonBon.

"P-pronoun?!"

_"'She!' Where's my bestie?! She came looking for Mike but I **can't find** her! I heard her scream earlier! And she's not **responding** to me over the network!"_ She shook him harder and now it was starting to _hurt_.

"Severo! Admin-!" Jeremy began and BonBon leaped back from him with a scowl, hands in the air.

_"Hey, ya lil prick, it's **before** midnight! Hold off your power trip till **after** we glitch, 'kay?"_ she grumbled before looking worried again, _"Chicacoo...."_

"She's fine, last I saw. Well, she was being chased by some robbers at the main entrance, but she took one of them out already." Jeremy flipped his tablet and clicked over to the game area, the only place where she could have gone after fleeing. BonBon bent to look at the screen with him, searching the camera feed. "There are vents all over Freddy's, right? She could have escaped them through there."

_"Yeah... look,"_ BonBon agreed and pointed at a bit of shadow darker than the rest. _"This is a corner of the emergency vent. It connects the game floor directly to the security office, like the vents in the party rooms. All the vents are connected, actually. It's practically a maze buried within this building."_ Jeremy blinked, surprised.

"So she could have used that to go to the office?" he asked before looking puzzled. "Wait, if **that's** true, why do I never see you all use that vent during my shift? Or any of the others?"

_"It auto-seals at midnight to keep the Marionette from having direct access to the night watch,"_ BonBon replied flatly, drawing a line across her neck. _"There are **still** doors hidden in the building, kid; there's just no outside way of **controlling** them."_ Jeremy grimaced at her gesture even as he filed away that bit of information. _"Okay, so she's at the office. I'm gonna run ahead and meet her."_ She straightened, hands on her hips as she eyed Jeremy. _"Think you can make it there from here? It isn't part of our normal route but I have access to the building's original floorplan."_

He decided not to tell her that this layout **was** the original floorplan attached to the economical design of several years ago. "I'm afraid not. Got a way of loading that to my tablet?"

BonBon grinned and reached over her shoulder for her guitar. _"I'll do you better and get you a guide. I'm remote speaking to Fred, getting him to head to Parts and Service to clue in the prototypes on what's happening. Mangle is kind of a wild card, but she'll come if I play her pirate theme."_ As she played, she narrowed her eyes a little. _" **You** took your sweet time showing up. Mike said to show at 11 PM and here you are almost half an hour **late** ,"_ she commented sharply.

Jeremy jerked a thumb at his backpack strapped to his own shoulders. "Had to stock up on a few things. If I was gonna go into a dangerous situation, then I'd like to be prepared." He sighed, wilting in place. "Wasn't expecting an armed robbery, though. We don't make _nearly_ as much money as we look with you guys on stage."

_"They're **not** after money,"_ the bunny interrupted, looking away with a deep frown as she kept playing. _"Fred... he's saying the goon squad tried to grab him during his and Mangle's run. These criminals are trying to steal **us**."_

 

He had been stunned then and he was _still_ reeling from that revelation as he knocked his fist against the wall, signalling Mangle to wait a moment. Why steal the animatronics? What gain in that **was** there? As soon as midnight came, the two bands would turn on anyone human near them and kill them, the Toys because of their sabotaged software and the originals because of the enraged children possessing them. It made no sense, not unless these robbers had no clue what was wrong with the two bands.

Jeremy flipped the tablet while a nearby vent opened and Mangle poked her head out, golden eyes bright as she spilled out of the wall. The music box was slowing down, the lid to the prize box open and Marionette peeking over the edge with a sleepy glare. He pressed on the remote charge key to add power to the music box and bring it up to speed. The creepy puppet swayed slightly, then ducked back inside, closing the lid tight.

Not a moment after that, a masked man entered the camera's view to lean forward and inspect the prize box curiously. Jeremy frowned; that looked like the same guy who had smiled at him earlier. His frown grew into a scowl once the man straightened, looked around to find the camera, and waved at him with another smile. Who the hell **was** this creep?

"Severo. Admin. Goto," he growled softly, trying to calm his stormy thoughts. He jumped when Mangle's static faltered near him, her eyes glazing in response to his words. "Oh! No no no, cancel phrase!" Jeremy babbled nervously, one hand half-covering his mouth while he quickly, but carefully, patted Mangle's head with the other. "Sorry! I keep forgetting my chant does that to you guys!"

She blinked, her gaze lidded in annoyance. _"Ye be needin' to learn to watch yer **mouth** ,"_ Mangle grumbled. _"Mike's voice carries power but yer **words** be carrying power of **another** kind."_

"Sorry," he apologized again and looked back down at the tablet. The man was gone. Jeremy flicked around but only found a few other burglars roaming the halls in their search. "So how can we avoid running into those guys on the way to the office? I don't think I have enough mace to spray them all night." He had a few cans in his backpack, along with a collapsible night stick, a small hatchet, an airhorn, a whistle and a dark colored blanket of thickly woven and flame resistant material. If he'd been of age, he might have been able to get his hands on a taser too, but Jeremy could only hope to get his hands on Mike's.

_"Thirty minutes. Think ye capable of trusting in me, matey?"_ Mangle asked, tilting her head to look up at him. Jeremy looked back in trepidation, mouth thinning at the memory of her lunging at him so long ago. He had to pry the story of what had happened after that out of Mike. It boiled down to Mike throwing himself at Jeremy to get them both away from Mangle and Marionette, shielding him with his own body as they hit the floor. The impact knocked Jeremy out and stunned Mike enough to let Mangle snatch Jeremy away. She then threatened to crush his skull in her jaws unless Mike surrendered to them. The consequences of the day guard's choice resulted in the events of that night.

That had happened before the glitch trigger time as well. Jeremy was still investigating why Mangle and Marionette both went rogue early.

For now, he didn't have much choice. He nodded, grimacing a little as Mangle drew herself up with a smile. _"Hang on fer a high seas adventure, laddie!"_ she declared and enveloped him in her limbs before scuttling towards the vent again.

" _Waaaah!_ I'm not even a fan of pirates! _Heeeeelp!_ " Jeremy wailed, wide-eyed with panic as he was dragged into the vent.


	4. 11:30 PM

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While robbers and Fazbands brawl in the halls, Chicacoo finds Mike and discovers how badly he’s been hurt. Meanwhile, Jeremy’s search lands him in the middle of the fighting, where he faces the leader of the thieves, Router. But in demonstrating his father’s commands to keep himself out of the line of fire, has Jeremy painted an even larger target on himself? And what of the music box holding back the Marionette?!

**11:30 PM**

**__**_"... and that's what's been going on,"_ Fred finished, rubbing nervously at his arm as he looked up at the much taller and bulkier originals standing before him. _"BonBon said Jeremy's finally here, so he can get us unglitched if we go past midnight."_

_"And ye can't get hold of Mike?"_ Foxy asked in concern, ears pulled back helplessly.

_"The last one to see him was Mangle and she said he was making his way back here when those first shots were fired."_ Fred shrugged. _"No one's seen him since."_

_"Then what are we waiting for?!"_ Chica declared, leaning around Freddy and shaking her arms, wires waving in place of where her hands once were, _"Let's go help them while we're still ourselves!"_

While the animatronics cheered and readied themselves to face the uncertain situation in the pizzeria, Bonnie simply left Parts and Service, voice box rattling softly as he tried to activate its functions. His favorite little guard could get hurt in this mess. No time to waste. Besides, it wasn't like he'd ever see the stage again in this condition.

\-----

Entering the office, the first thing he should have done was get to the phone and call Jeremy back, or the cops. But the couch suddenly looked so inviting, and Mike was laid out on it before his brain could catch up to what he was doing. His dizziness faded a little and Mike sighed in relief, hand pressed against his side as he kept an eye on the office entrance. He wasn't safe, -he was _so_ aware of that, listening to a rising nightmare symphony of shrieks and screams he prayed stayed far away from him- but he was more comfortable now and so, **so** tired.

_-Thump thump thump-_

A childish giggling bounced through the room and Mike squeezed his eyes shut in a burst of irritation that faded when he found himself too exhausted to care. "God **damn** it, Billy," he sighed aloud, "what the fuck do you **want**?"

_"M-Michael?"_ a breathy feminine voice exclaimed and he ground his teeth in renewed annoyance.

"And the damned spring chicken is here. Fuck me sideways." Mike turned his head, watching with a lidded glare as BB crawled out of the right vent, frightened expression on his face, followed by Chicacoo with wide eyes full of alarm. "That's weird. You two come from the left normally."

_"The robbers chased me to the game room! Poor BB was hiding behind the carousel!"_ Chicacoo told him, crawling the rest of the way out before joining him. She paused with a gasp, hands rising to her beak. _"Oh no... GSW!"_ Mike gave her a raised eyebrow and she reached out to him. He tensed, wincing in pain as his side protested the jerky movement and pulled at the wound. _"Relax, relax, I have to see...."_ He pressed his hand more firmly down on it, growling softly in warning.

He didn't trust her. He didn't trust **any** of them. From BB on up to Foxy and Freddy, Mike did not have a shred of trust to allow them to lay a hand on him for _any_ reason. In pain, wounded, tired, he sure as hell wasn't about to let them try **now**.

But all he could manage was a flinch and muffled groan as Chicacoo lifted his hand away and leaned over to inspect the bloodied area. BB stood by her, peeking over with her before giving Mike a worried look. "Hurts worse than it looks," Mike grumbled out, flexing blood-caked fingers to remind the yellow animatronic she still held him by the wrist.

_"I can't tell. There's **so** much **blood**...."_ Chicacoo whispered in a tiny voice, her free hand tugging gently at the torn edges of his shirt. _"Unbutton this. I need better access to the site."_

"Hah! Fuck _no_ ," Mike barked out a disbelieving laugh that sent another ripple of agony through him. "Bad enough you've got my arm, you're **not** crossing any lines, Lil Miss KFC." He reached up to tug on her hand, trying to open it and free his wrist.

_"I'm trying to **help** , Michael! I've got child care support programming!"_ Chicacoo protested worriedly.

"I am **not** a fucking _child_! Let me **go**!" Mike twitched as BB reached across to work open the buttons of his shirt. "Hey, **hey**! Get your hands **off** me, you little shit!"

_"Hello,"_ BB replied, tugging determinedly at the stained cloth until it was parted. Mike shot him a venomous glare, silently promising retribution for his part in this humiliation while Chicacoo slowly reached down to touch fingertips to the skin surrounding the wound, eyes narrowing as she inspected it carefully.

_"It was medium caliber, through and through. It looks like part of your kidney got hit."_ Mike held onto her hand with a tight grip, forehead pressed against her arm, shivering in pain and squeezing his eyes shut while he listened to her describe what was wrong. He uttered a gasp as cold plastic carefully pried into the ruined flesh. _"Oh **no**... a large vessel was severed, I didn't see it earlier. This needs medical treatment **very** soon. It's sealed for the moment, but just barely."_ He felt her hand open, releasing his wrist as it curved to cup his cheek and support his head. He opened his eyes, refusing to acknowledge the tears gathered and spilling over as he looked up at the animatronic. _"You're bleeding heavily, and all this is doing is slowing it down. It will take longer, but this...."_ Chicacoo looked sorrowful. _"Michael, this is supposed to be **fatal**. You're living on borrowed time,"_ she whispered.

_"Hellooo,"_ BB whined, ducking down into a huddle as he looked between the two.

Mike shut his eyes again, trying to unhear the words. Too much left to live for; this _couldn't_ be his end. It was too cruel, so **unfair**. He thought of Doll, waiting for him at home with takeout and warm embraces; of Chris, who still went into moments of shock, hands trembling, whenever anyone mentioned backstage cleanup; of Jeremy, who was bound and determined to run headfirst into this just to get him out....

"Jeremy, I need to call Jeremy, can't let him get here," Mike gasped out, panicking.

_"What? You don't know?"_ Chicacoo asked in surprise, moving to settle him back down and swiftly re-buttoning his shirt for him. _"Jeremy-chan is already **here**. I was talking with him through code earlier. That's when the bad guys chased me. He's searching for **you**!"_

"I told him not to come! Fucking stubborn- _**gnngh**_!" Mike curled in on himself as he tried getting up, pain running through his body in terrible waves. The warmth of earlier suddenly vanished, his body temperature dropping and leaving him to sag in place, breathing hard as his vision went black for a terrifyingly long minute. Chicacoo sidled up next to him, pulling one of his arms across her shoulders, carefully wrapping her arm around his waist, and rising beside him as he moved, giving him a solid support to lean on while he frantically tried to recover, mind spinning from the sudden drain of blood. Wh-what just happened?!

_"Thirty minutes,"_ Chicacoo reminded him wistfully, _"and then the glitch happens and I won't be able to help you unless Jeremy overrides me. But for as long as I can, **please** , let me be by your side."_

He _didn't_ trust her, didn't trust _any_ of them. Bunch of fucked up robots; one minute they were fine around him and he thought he could relax, the next they were trying to rip him apart, and he would be fighting for his life, clawing and screaming until dawn on the night shift. But now... now he was struggling, feeling weak and unsteady and slowly dying even as he tried to see a way out for himself along with his friend-turned-son. "...F-Fine. We need to find Jeremy... and get out of here," Mike huffed, dredging up his will to hold himself together and carefully moving to the desk with her help. "It's gonna suck, but those assholes can have... whatever cash is here. I **need** help." He shot a warning look at the animatronic when he felt her hand spread flat over his stomach, halting him just inches from the phone, only to look uncertain at her own alarmed expression.

_"Broadcast from Fred,"_ she said in a small, frightened voice. _"Michael, **we're** the ones being stolen! These criminals are after the Fazbands!"_

\----

**11:40 PM**

 

Mangle dropped delicately out of the vent into game area, looking up behind her as the rest of her body flowed down, cradling an unconscious Jeremy in the midst of animatronic parts and cables. She lay him out on the floor while Endo brought his tablet up closer to peer at the screen. _"Well, **that** was fun. Let's try to avoid that ride in the future,"_ he quipped with a nonplussed glare.

The tablet displayed several bodies laid out all over the floor as Endo switched from camera to camera. While there were signs of broken limbs and bleeding, no human had been stuffed into a suit or otherwise killed. Each camera had a member of the old Fazbear Band, damaged by their encounters with the robbers, but ultimately victorious, Chica kicking a fallen guard over and Foxy snarling at a cowering thug he had cornered. But the Toys had not fared as well; BonBon was cut off on her path to the main hall and now lay on the floor, body jerking under an electrified net as a pair of burglars stood guard over her. Fred was dropped by several of the large caliber shots, his legs nearly destroyed while he hid his face behind his hands, shivering in fear. No sign of Chicacoo and the prototypes were all accounted for. All save for Bonnie, the faceless rabbit dropping out of the vent as well and limping over to Jeremy's side. Tiny LED eyes blinked as he looked down at the silent teenager before he reached out a hand to nudge the boy's head to one side.

A short, ugly gash cut across the side of his head, turning fluffy brown hair dark and sticky with blood. Mangle tilted her head at the sight, a guilty look on her face. _"Sorry, lad. We weren't supposed to have landed in the midst of that...."_

 

**Earlier~**

 

Mangle paused in her travels, ears rising as she listened. Something was happening outside the ventilation tunnels.

"Hey, what's going on?" Jeremy whispered shakily, still struggling a little to get out of the cocoon of cables and metal she had wrapped him in for safety. She shushed him, reducing her static further to better understand what she was hearing. And then she didn't have to.

Gunshots went off, countered with the angry shrieks of the older animatronics as they thundered down halls, the noise leaking into and echoing through the ventilation shafts. Jeremy cried out in pain, covering his ears as best he could. Mangle headed for the nearest opening, wanting to see what was going on, understand what was taking place.

She spilled out into a hall, dropping Jeremy nearby to land roughly on his feet, the young man stumbling before righting himself. They both stared openly at the connecting hall between the old pizzeria layout and the remodeled one. Freddy was roaring in a fury, barrelling down the corridor and running roughshod over anyone in his path, ignoring the storm of bullets ripping into his body shell, faux fur tearing under the assault. Similar screams, human and not, sounded from other parts of the building. Bonnie crashed in through the thin wall, his one intact arm grabbing a burglar and hurling him aside like he was nothing, voice box issuing a bellow of rage. Jeremy squeaked at the sight, hugging his tablet and looking ready to bolt.

_"The prototypes be fighting back?"_ Mangle whispered in surprise while Endo rolled along the length of his neck, spotted a splash of blood painting the wall, and smiled hugely, eye flickering red for a breath of a moment.

"Stop! You're going to damage them!" Jeremy yelled down the hall, "I need them to be functioning for my investigation! And the rest of you! Please! Don't kill anyone!" He yelped as stray gunfire ripped into the wall near him. _"Waaah!"_ He jumped back from the ruined wall, eyes wide, before tracing the line of fire back to the source.

A masked man roughly his height ran at him, yelling orders to his men as he pointed his gun at him again. Jeremy's eyes widened, mouth moving before he could think.

"Severo Admin Bonnie goto command! Target: Jeremy Fitzgerald! Register: Staff! Recognize protocol: Defend!" he barked out, jumping back as the rabbit shot towards him, standing protectively in front of Jeremy and letting his thick body take the bullets aimed for the night guard.

"What the **fuck**?! What the **fuck** is **that**?!" the robbers' leader yelled, pulling up short and ripping his mask away to seethe at Jeremy. He was young, short black hair mussed by his actions, and he was glaring with an unholy rage at the brunet shielded by the faceless bunny. "Who the **fuck** are **you** , you fucking little _fuck_?! Fucking **no** **one** controls these fuckshits before reprogramming but **me**!"

"I'm the night watch! You're not supposed to _be_ here! Don't you know these guys will glitch out at midnight?!" Jeremy exclaimed, crouching behind Bonnie as he flipped his tablet to check the cameras. "Oh my _god_ , there are bodies all over the place! This is too soon for their programming to go berserk!"

The other man just shrieked and Mangle snarled in response, drawing close to Jeremy to help protect him. That only seemed to piss off the strange little man even further, prompting him to charge straight at them.

"Waaah!" Jeremy cried in alarm, darting aside and tripping over Mangle's body to sprawl across the floor.

_"Laddie!"_ Mangle blurted out, eyes wide as Bonnie leaped to get to him. The strange man swung his gun around -a machine gun of sorts, Mangle's mind already began running it through the police database- and slammed it into the rabbit's leg, throwing him off course just enough to allow himself to reach Jeremy first.

"Get **off** me!" Jeremy yelled, struggling with the other man as he tried hitting him with the gun, screaming obscenities in his rage with every swing. Jeremy blocked many of them with his backpack, pulling it open to reach inside. "Bonnie! Recalibrate right leg! Compensate to the left fifteen percent!" he yelled over the mad shrieks of his attacker, "Reboot!"

Bonnie flipped over on the floor, legs shifting with mechanical whines of protest before he was bounding towards them, voice box rattling out a high shriek of matching fury. Jeremy whipped out a short rod from his pack, extending it to full length in the same motion before snapping it forward to strike the man's head just as he did the same with the butt of his rifle.

"You little _shit_! **I** am in control!" The strange man howled in pain as both hits connected in the same moment, his hand letting go of Jeremy's shirt as he was knocked away by the blow. Jeremy's head snapped aside, eyes wide and unseeing as skin split open over his temple, spraying a mist of red into the air just in time for Bonnie to scoop him up in his arm.

_"Bonnie! Get him out of here!"_ Freddy yelled, pinning down another robber, _"If we lose him, there's no telling what will happen at midnight!"_

_"To me, matey!"_ Mangle cried, lifting herself up as a blur of black shot in from out of nowhere, diving into Jeremy's body as Bonnie held him up in offering, the teen's limp form giving a small jerk before going slack again. He tossed the night watch to Mangle and she swiftly enveloped him in parts and wires, her hand closing the now black eyes to spare herself the frightening sight. _"Game room!"_ she barked and leaped into the vent, Bonnie following in time to block the recovering leader of the invaders from opening fire again.

"I will **find** you, you little fuck!" he screamed, face red and eyes bloodshot from the single hit Jeremy had landed. "I'm going to _fucking_ **kill** **you** and then **I'll** have all the control here! _Nobody_ fucking undermines me in **my** operation! You're a **dead** man, Fitzgerald! **Dead!** "

 

Mangle shuddered, shaking herself free of her memories as she looked to the prize box. In all that had happened, all the chaos that took place, Jeremy had never taken a moment to recharge the music box. The alert light over the handle on the box flashed steadily. Any moment now, the Marionette would awaken and emerge from the box.

And with him would come the Golden Freddy suit, the only thing that would hold a guard's soul in place once their body failed.....


	5. 11:35 PM

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All the pieces and players are in place, now it's time for the final face-off. Hidden truths are revealed as Jeremy stands against Router for control of the Fazbear Bands!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor corrections were added to spelling and to help link the events to other things that happened in the background of the timeline.

**11:35 PM**

 

The further Mike walked, leaning heavily on Chicacoo, the weaker he felt. His hand pressed down on the bullet wound, trying to hold back the steady pouring of his own blood. Somehow, he already knew... there was no stopping what was coming. He wished he'd gotten through to Doll after making that call to the police, but all he had gotten was her voice mail. So he left her a message.

_"Hey, Doll, sorry I haven't come home. Things got crazy here and... hah... I just... I just wanted to tell you... I love you... **so much**. ...God there's so much I wanna say... not enough **time**... but I love you, okay? Never forget I love you with **everything** I have... and... I'm so **sorry**...."_

Now he was limping his way to the game area with Chicacoo holding most of his weight. Mike wasn't sure why exactly he was going there, mind growing fuzzy as it became harder to think. She said there was something there that could help, that would keep him intact until Jeremy could save him. He protested a bit, but followed her lead in the end.

Getting harder to breathe. So tired....

They walked down the halls, listening to enraged screams and demands for Jeremy to show himself echoing in the otherwise eerily quiet building. Slow, steady, until Mike and Chicacoo were at the entrance to the game area. He squinted, seeing figures already there, gathered at the prize corner in front of the giant prize box.

 _"Oh, I guess that's all who's coming to help? I guess Fred and BonBon lost."_ Chicacoo murmured sadly, _"Oh noooo, my friends! I wanna go help them but... but **this** is important too!"_ She raised her voice. _"Mangle! Can we help Fred and BonBon?! They must have gotten captured; I can't get a response on the network!"_

 _"Nay, lass! The only one who can save them now would be Jeremy!"_ Mangle called back, skittering aside to point at the slender figure laying on the floor. _"The lily-livered bastard what knocked him out took them off grid; he must have hacked them if we can't contact 'em!"_

"Jeremy? Jeremy's hurt?" Mike mumbled, anger flickering, weak against his fading strength. Chicacoo moved them both forward, closer to the prize box, and now he registered the sound of 'Pop Goes the Weasel' playing rapidly. "Music box... fuck..."

 _"It'll be okay. It'll be **fine**. Jeremy-chan can reset them when he wakes up,"_ Chicacoo told herself, stopping once she and Mike joined the group at the box. Mike pulled away, dropping to his knees beside Jeremy and reaching out to touch fingers to his head. Warm red stained his fingertips and he pulled his hand back, staring at it.

"Bleeding... from his head...." he whispered and flickers of images, disjointed and lightning fast, danced through his mind. Spatters of blood... triangles that gleamed... a low laugh of pleasure.... Mike clutched at his head, groaning in pain as he pushed the thoughts aside. Focus, things were getting hazy, harder to think. He could feel the wet stickiness of his hands as he held his head, the smell of blood overpowering everything else.

 _"There be very little time left,"_ Mangle murmured worriedly, looking to her friend Endo. The naked endoskull had a pensive look on his face, so very different from his usual joking smile and gleaming golden eye.

 _"Don't like it, but don't have a choice,"_ he returned quietly, looking to the prize box with a strangely longing expression.

The lid to the box opened, the two sides parting and falling away as the Marionette rose on its strings, the Golden Freddy suit in its arms as it smiled over its head. Mike stared up at it in alarm, twitching at the feel of Chicacoo's hands on his shoulders. His heart raced, his eyes widened, and he caught on to what the animatronics were planning.

" **Bitch** ," he managed to snarl out darkly, slumping in her grip as he glared at the suit placed down against the prize box. "Bad enough I'm going to die from a fucking bullet wound, you're not even gonna let Doll have my body to bury. Hate you all..." Mike jerked back from the Marionette when it reached out to touch his face, growling in warning.

 _"That's **not** what we're doing, Michael! Honest!"_ Chicacoo protested in a hurt tone, _"We're going to save you so we don't lose your data! You're precious to us, you and little Jeremy-chan."_

 _"T̢he s̨tre̢ngth t̴o ̵s̷ur҉viv̕e..̶. it'͠s ̡f̶a̸di͘n̸g̡,"_ the Marionette said, smile falling into a scowl, _"̵I ͜ça͢n'͟t pul͟l h͝i̕s̨ po̵w̸er ̡like ̸t͢h̸is͏.̕"̨_ It tilted its head, considering, then looked over at Jeremy. Mike followed the animatronic's gaze, then bared his teeth in a surge of protective anger, straining forward against Chicacoo's clutches, hands tightening into fists.

" **Don't** you **fucking** _touch_ him! Focus on **me** and whatever bullshit power you _think_ I have, just leave my son **out** of this!" he snapped, then flinched and sagged again, breathing hard as a wave of dizziness washed over him. Too much, heart beating too fast, pumping out blood too quickly, everything slowing down now. "Don't... _please_ , don't touch...." Mike hated pleading so weakly, but he didn't have the strength left. Maybe the Marionette had been on to something.

It carefully touched fingertips to Jeremy's chest, resting over his heart. _"̵He's͏ fin̸e̸, ̛jus͘t̸ ̧st҉ar͞ting to awa҉k͘en͢. ̵I ̧c͏a͞n͟ **f̴ee͞l** it,҉ t͡he wa͟rmt̶h of l͘ife̴."̨ _The Marionette turned to smile in understanding at the other animatronics. _"̷Ah, ̛s͡o̕ ̸tha͘t'̸s̨ your p̸la̵n͡.͘ ͢Clev͘e͞ŗ."̡_ It skittered back to the suit and ran long fingers down the sides, unhooking connections until it was able to open the Golden Freddy. It removed the face, turning it and muttering to itself as it pulled at the crosswires and metalwork, ripping out several of them at random. _"W̷ell͞, hur͘ry ͠up͡. He'͜s ̢dyi͢ng ̨a͝n̴d ͜we'r̷e a̷bout͜ f̢ift̵een m̵in̨u͘tes ҉awa͡y ͞from̢ g̷li͏tc͞h͝i̸nģ.̴"҉_ It paused, looking up and tapping a fingertip against pouting lips. _"̶Wel̵l͟,̸ ̴ **y̢ou̶** are̷. I've ͝ **a̸lw̕a̶ys̕** ҉be͠en ͟l͏ike͝ t҉h̴is̴. E͡v̨e̶r̸yt̵h̸in͟g̷ I̷ ͝do͡, all t͡o҉ pr̴otec̵t͝ ̨t͞he ̸c̛hil̢dr͡e̢n͏.͡"̛_

"Last time I checked," Mike breathed out furiously, "killing off the night guards **doesn't** help keep kids safe."

 _"You heard the puppet, lassie,"_ Mangle told Chicacoo gently, her expression regretful, _"Bonnie and I will keep Jeremy safe till he wakes. The other old ones are coming. You have to get Mikey-boy in the suit."_

 _"Does it **have** to be me?"_ the chicken animatronic whimpered, pulling Mike closer to herself in a hug. Mike glared over his shoulder at her, a tired, lidded look as his breathing began slowing, growing more shallow. Mangle nodded, skittering aside to peer down at Jeremy and prod at his arm.

Bonnie reached out to her, shaking his head, then looked down at the teen before reaching out to pat at the air a few feet over Jeremy's body. Mangle gave him a suspicious look. The rabbit held out his hand again, this time measuring the height of a child, then pointing at Jeremy. _"Ahhh, the lass is with him. That explains why Mike's strength failed him so suddenly,"_ Mangle realized as Endo peered at the empty space and smiled gently in recognition.

Mike watched them with mixed feelings, holding to them even as they began fading to nothing. So much left to live for, all slipping away. And the robbers still in the pizzeria... would Jeremy be okay on his own? He struggled only a little as Chicacoo stood and pulled him up with her, a lame attempt at pulling away.

 _"Come on. It's only for a little while. I hope,"_ she told him, guiding him to the Golden Freddy suit. Mike bared teeth at it, distant memories of barely escaping it several times before floating like mist through his head. Chicacoo turned him around and the wave of lightheadedness he felt at the motion made it easier for her to settle him into the body of the suit.

 _"No!"_ Mike cried, startled by how whisper-faint his voice had become. He could see Jeremy starting to move, to sit up with a groan of discomfort. "H-Help!" Chicacoo lifted a hand to shush him, fingers holding his mouth closed. He shot a glare at her, slowly growing confused by her expression of grief.

 _"We're going to keep you **safe** in here, so your data doesn't degrade and your soul is kept in place. And-and I **promise** , Jeremy will bring you **back**. Marionette said Jeremy could bring back the missing children, and you're the... the sixth one... s-so it **should** work!"_ she babbled at him, voice stuttering like she was crying even though she had no tears, no mechanical version.

Mike didn't understand any of it. Once more, empty and meaningless words to him. His body felt so heavy now, cold and numb as he weakly pressed his hand to the wound in his side and felt nothing. It was getting dark. "M'Doll... J'rmy...." he slurred.

Chicacoo removed her beak, bending to press her endoskeleton teeth to his forehead in a simulation of a kiss. _"Sleep tight, Michael. I promise. We'll **save** you,"_ she whispered, sitting back and resting her hand over his heart, shutting her eyes tight and wishing she wasn't the one doing this.

She stayed still, sobbing quietly, until Mike sighed softly and the fluttery heartbeat stopped.

\------

**11:45 PM**

 

"̨W̕a̢ke͝ u̷p! ̧ _Wa̢ķe up!_ Je͠rem̡y,̵ it'͠s ͢ _M͘ik̶ey_!̷ H͏e͏'s.̢..! **He's̢**...!͢ _Waaah!͢_ "

"Nngh... wha-?"

Jeremy groaned, head aching and stinging as he pushed himself up. He could feel soothing heat running under his skin, easing the pain away. He felt a strange mental tugging, like someone trying to shake him awake in his head. He reached up to rub at the sore spot and flinched, jerking his hand away when he touched sticky congealed blood and sent a spark of pain through himself.

What _happened_? He remembered fighting that pissed off guy in the hall, and then the gun came swinging at his head, and that was it. So how'd he end up-?

 _"Lad, be ready! We'll be needing yer words very soon!"_ Mangle told him, suddenly looming into his face.

"Waaaaah!" Jeremy screamed, backpedaling from the mangled animatronic and hitting up against something solid and hard, almost cold. He froze and looked up, teeth clenched in fear. Bonnie tilted his head, blinking down at him. _"Aaaaagh!"_ Jeremy wailed, scrambling away on all fours as fast as he could.

What was going **on**?! Why was he still _alive_?! What **time** was it?!

He froze again when he heard sobbing, a little girl crying near him and Chicacoo's voice stuttering badly. Why were they crying? Jeremy turned in place, getting to his feet as he looked around and quickly spotted the Marionette out of its box. A spike of fear ran through him, remembering a trade being offered that nearly got him and Mike killed.

But the Marionette only glanced at him and went back to looking into an opened....

 _'No-!'_ Jeremy's vision went fuzzy, his breathing quickening as he trembled in place, staring at the Golden Freddy suit laying on the floor, body shell open with Chicacoo bowed over it and shoulders shaking, the Marionette just peering inside and holding the face in one hand. It was in pieces, he knew that; Golden Freddy was in pieces and empty and no one was moving it but he couldn't stop shaking, couldn't stop the faint memory of dangling legs from slowly forming in his mind....

Until a hard yank on those memories swept them away and freed him from the onset of panic. "̕M̸-Mi̛ke̷y...̷ Mikey~̷!̷"̢ the girl's voice wept. Why was the Little One crying Mike's name?

Why was the suit-?

Oh.

Oh **no**.

"Please. _Please_ , no. Oh _god_ , _please_ , **no** ," Jeremy whispered, feeling his own tears welling up and falling. Slowly, then speeding up, he staggered towards the two animatronics, barely aware of Mangle and Bonnie turning to look up at the vent, several more members of the Fazband dropping down from above to land and move away to make room. There was only the opened suit, and the weeping, and the stomach-lurching thought that maybe, maybe, while he was unconscious....

Jeremy circled around the suit to see what Chicacoo was sobbing over, her hands covering her eyes, and dropped to his knees when his legs failed him.

Mike lay inside the shell of Golden Freddy, shirt heavily soaked in blood, arms covered in it, one resting across his body as though trying to stop the source of all that blood. His eyes were closed, head turned aside as if he'd been talking to someone just moments ago.

"D-Dad?" Jeremy whimpered, and the memory of dangling legs melted into stains of blood, limp hands, and too blue lips. "Daaaad...." He was whining, whimpering, as he scooted forward and reached one shaky hand out to touch Mike's arm and give it a little shake. It was cool, growing colder slowly and yet all too fast at the same time. Like it would have been still warm if only he'd woken up just a little sooner. "Dad, please. Please wake up." Jeremy whispered desperately, shaking harder, " _Please!_ Wake **up**! WAKE UP!"

But he _wasn't_ waking up. Mike's eyes remained closed, his expression one of fading distress. He didn't move, didn't respond.

Jeremy looked down, tracing the pattern of the bloodstain back to where it was darkest, and shakily moved Mike's hand aside, uttering a sob at the sight of the gunshot wound that had steadily bled away the day guard's life.

"I̢ ̡ **tried** ̸to͠ st̷o̢p ̕it̡!̴ I̶ wa͢s͜ hol͡d̕i̡ng i̛t͘ ͞i̷ņ as m͜uch a̢s I ͝could ͝b̛uţ t̨he̴n̸ ̢ **y͘ou** ͞g̸o͠t hu̕rt ̵and̸ I̸ cǫul̸d͘ ̢f̡ee̕l ̧y͢oų ͡nee̡d̷ȩd to ̕h̢e͡a̕l q҉ui͝ckl͠y͝ '͝ca͢u̴s͝e ̶t҉h͞a͢t͡ ̴hit co̸u͘ld h҉a͞v̢e͞ m͜es͡s͜ed ̨ųp ̢yo̢u̡r̸ br͜ai͢n̵ and I̛ **ha̛d͏** ̧t̢o͠ le̡av̸e͡ ̴a͜nd̷..͘.!͝ Į'm̕ ͘ **sorr͘y̕** , ̸M̨ikey̴!̷ ͡I ͞ _trie͠d_!̷ I̛ ̸tŗied _so͡_ **har̕d**!" The voice of the Little One wailed in his ears, and Jeremy wished he wasn't the only one who could hear it.

He pulled his hands back, stopped, then turned them so he could stare at his palms. They were completely _covered_ in red. Mike's blood, his hands were covered in his best friend's -his **Dad's** \- blood.

His mouth trembled.

And before anything else could come of him, the Little One growled. " **Th̴a҉t̢** guy ͠is re͠spo̢ns̵ib̢l͟e fo̸r͟ **a͘lļ** ̨thi͞s̛! ͞ **L͝o͜ok** ͞a̢t͠ hi͡m! H̷e'̡s̶ jus̴t ͟w̕a̛l͜ki̸ņg i͟n ͠li̛ke h̡e ca̡n d̛o _a̢ny͘t̵h̶i͝n͞ģ_ he ͜ **wa͠n͢ts̵**!"͘ Jeremy could practically feel the air around himself hum in growing rage. "̷He͘ t̨o̶l̢d t̛h͡at bi͢g m̧an h͟e̸ coul̕d ̧t͘ak̛e ͞M̴i̡ke̕,̕ ͝t̵ak̡e͘ ̛h͢im̵ an̡d **kee̛p** h͜im ͏li̧ke ̸a p͞e̡t. ̧An̴d wh͡en ͝Mike ͜ra̢n ͜away,̕ t͠he b̡ig̢ m͘an **shot** ͘him̸. T͏h̛e b̛i͡g ̷ma̵n͡ d̷oe̸s̵ w͜ha͜t҉ ̸t͡his l͞it͢tļe ̶on̛e͘ say̕s̶.̧ So ̨i̧t'̧s͘ a̸ll ̡ **his** ̧f͝ault͟! A̧l͠l̕ ̸ **R̛o͡u̴ter̸'s** ̨faul̶t͠!"̷

He turned his head, just enough to glare at the young man walking into the prize room with Fred and BonBon at his sides. The animatronics moved unsteadily, eyes blackened but their expressions caught in a state of horror and disbelief. The man -Router, that's what the Little One called him- just stood there with the night stick Jeremy had lost, smiling widely and laughing.

"It was easy! The command gave me access and I had to brute force the rest, but I **did** it! Just like my old man, I got _control_ of these things!" Router gestured with the stick at Jeremy and the other animatronics. "I'll be taking the rest, Fitzgerald, and your **life** as well, so only **I** will have command. And who wouldn't **want** control of such lovely murderous robots? Once I've delivered their drives, I'll replace the suits with armor; I'll make a _killing_ underground! _Hahahahaha!_ Get it?!"

Never had Jeremy felt such utter _hatred_ for a person.

 _"G̵od͞ **d͢am̸n** ̧i̢t͘! ͟Fuc̢k҉ing̶ p̵u҉n̢ş! Fir͜s͏t Mike,͟ no͏w **thi̡s** psycho p̧ưnk!"_ the Marionette snarled before struggling to regain its composure. _"Jer͜emy̷~͏,͞ ̸ḩow ab̸ou͜t a ̛trad̢e?͟"_ it managed to purr as Mangle approached them and dropped off the backpack of supplies. It reached in out of curiosity, lit up in delight, and pulled out the thick blanket, shaking it out and carefully tucking it over Mike's body to cover him completely. _"Y͜o̡u ̛kn̨ow͜ you͜ are ͘the̵ ͝ **tr̴ue͠** Se̛v̶e͞nth Chil̨d͢, ye͠s?͞"͢_

"What?" Jeremy's angry focus was broken, whipping his head around to stare at the spindly animatronic, stunned. The Marionette tapped its mask.

 _"I wa҉s ̷th̶er̴ȩ tha͡t da͜y. I̸ s͝a̶w̷ ͟alļ ͏t̨h̵e̶ v҉i̴ctims.͠ **Yơu͢** ̕w̷e͞re t̶h͠e̡re. Y̡ou w̧e̷r͏e ͘sel̨ected t̢o̶ d̢i͜e͏, b̕ut̕ y̴o͠ur f͢ath͜e̸r ̢kept͜ you with your mot̷h͠er f̵or ͜f͡ear of͏ the ̷an͠i̢ma͟t̵r͜oni҉c̕s. Y̢o͏u͠ ͟we̷re s͘u̡p̢po̷sed͠ ͠to ̸d̷ie, ҉b҉ut҉ ͡the B̸itę ḩap̛p͞e̡ned a͢nd͜ **y̧ou͏** ,̛ ̢t͠iny ͏litt̡l̴e y͞ou, ga͞ve ͝al͜l ͡you̸r ̴hope̕ tha͞t̡ the͞ ̛b̡irt͢hday b͟oy w͜ou͞ld̢ l͡iv̵e̛."͘_ ̧The Marionette chuckled, lifting Jeremy's face by the chin. _"T̛h͞e͜ H̢ope͘ of̕ ҉the̴ 7th.҉ ̕T̶he͞ ̢w̶armth҉ ̶of ̡l̴ife. You͘ ͞g̢e̕t͜ r͢id҉ o͜f̡ th͘i͜s l͝i͝tt̢l̸e̴ as̢s̸h̨o̢le͞ ͢who̴ w̨o͟uld us͟e̶ u͜s ̧to ҉thr̛e͘ate͜n̵ ch͏il͘d̨ren ̡agai͏n͟,̡ an̷d̢ ̵I̡'ll h̡eļp ̨y͘o̸u ̕brin͡g͟ Mike ͘ba҉ck͡ ̵t̵o ̸li͜fe-̵"͏_

 _"Deal,"_ Jeremy snapped, slapping away the slender black hand as he stood to face Router. "You **murdered** my dad!"

"An accident, I assure you," Router returned with a smile, eyes gleaming insanely bright, "or perhaps not. Mike Schmidt, wasn't it? I remember now. He was _supposed_ to be dead anyway. His existence messed up perfection. Sounds like yours does too. Let's test out my control by having these two kill you." He pointed the night stick at him, Fred and BonBon raising their heads to stare at him. "Severo Admin Toy Freddy and Toy Bonnie goto command! Target Jeremy Fitzgerald! Eliminate!"

"Little One," Jeremy growled as the two Toys began running for him, "I want to _**scream**_." A rush of heat surged through his body, burning through his blood the way his tears blazed trails down his face.

Mike ruffling his hair with a grin. Mike kissing Doll in the morning before heading off for the day shift. Mike petting a stray puppy that hung out near the pizzeria doors. Mike flipping off the animatronics without even looking.

Mike placing a hand on his shoulder, proud look on his face, calling him 'son'.

All of that lost, because Router wanted control and his dad wanted perfection.

He took a deep breath as the animatronics drew closer, Mangle crying out for him to **do** something, and let out his grief, his anguish, his _**rage**_ , in one loud screech.

_"S̵S̨CCR͘R̵REE̸EE **AAA̕OOO͜OR͘RR͝R͘R͜!!҉** "̷_

The hacked Toys fell back, stunned as they hit the floor, Router crying out in pain as he clutched at his ears. The animatronic screech transformed halfway through into the mechanical roar the Toys sometimes let out when they attacked, echoing through the game room as light fixtures rattled and prizes fell from the shelves.

Chicacoo looked alarmed, batting her eyes rapidly as the Marionette clapped the shell of the Golden Freddy suit closed, placing the faceplate back into position. _"6th̶ Ch͠i̡l͏d̢ ͠l͡oc͢k̢e̛d͜ i͘n͝ ̢plac̢e. ͏It'͡s ͝a͢l̕l̸ ơn ҉t̴he niģh̡t ͜watch͟ ̢now̶,̵"_ it muttered, narrowing its eyes at the faint purple shimmer that flickered over the suit for a split second.

"Fucking **brat**! You think that's gonna **stop** me?!" Router snarled, hand rapidly moving to his belt to pull a handgun free. Jeremy darted aside, Bonnie matching his pace to continue acting as his shield.

"You think **you** have control here?! You don't know _anything_! My father forced me to learn command line code specifically to control and investigate the Fazbands' programming!" Jeremy yelled, diving into a slide across the floor just ahead of several rounds being fired at him. That gun would be an issue. If he couldn't take that away, he wouldn't be able to get close to Router. "Foxy! Target exceptions: Jeremy Fitzgerald, Fazband Generations One and Two! Register: Predator! Recognize protocol: Detain and retrieve! Location: prize box!"

With a shriek, Foxy raced after the black-clad robber, Router firing the rest of his rounds at him before running to one side of the room, throwing the gun away to grab at something else on his belt.

Jeremy scrambled across the floor, searching for a clear path to the wall of the building. If he could reach it...!

A small explosion went off and he let out a cry, tumbling forward and grunting as the wind was knocked out of him. Bonnie leaped after him, crouched on all three limbs so his body shielded him, a haunting gargle-growl rattling in his voice box. What the hell was **that**?! Foxy crashed to the floor, whining as Router kicked him aside and lashed out with the night stick.

"Concussive blasts work just as well! Toy Freddy, Toy Bonnie, fucking **find** that brat and _**rip** him **apart**_!" he yelled.

"Mangle! Freddy! Get Foxy back!" Jeremy called out, glaring hatefully at the sneering man directing the hacked Toys. Fred and BonBon pulled themselves up, more damaged than before, roaring as they ran for him.

 _"Comin' through!"_ Freddy bellowed, moving quickly for an animatronic his size. He slammed a fist down on Fred's head as the bears passed one another. _"In **my** day, we **minded** the night watch! We didn't **want** to stuff 'em in suits; we wanted to help keep them and kids safe!"_

BonBon bounced through, skirting around Mangle as the Toy scuttled across the floor, her static crackling loud enough to hurt Jeremy's ears. Bonnie pushed himself up just as BonBon landed on him, the two screeching in a fury as they tore at each other over Jeremy.

He rolled one way, then another, gasping in fright as he tried to avoid getting stepped on. Finally, he scooted out from underfoot, feeling small hands grab the back of his shirt and pull hard. Jeremy glanced back in alarm, blinking as BB gave him a shaky smile.

 _"H-Hello!"_ he stammered and pointed to the carousel. It was near the wall and big enough that if Jeremy jumped on and activated it, he could be spun to it and all the animals on it could hide him from more bullets.

"Great idea! Thanks, BB!" Jeremy exclaimed, patting the child animatronic on the head before running again.

He could see the prize box, could see the Marionette with its back arched, hissing as it stood guard over the Golden Freddy suit with Chica and Chicacoo both protecting it as best they could. Freddy was held up by Fred, the two bears snarling and slapping at each other. Bonnie was trying hard to safely pin down his Toy version with just his one arm, but the blue bunny was biting as well as clawing, tearing at the exposed endoskeleton.

Mangle was trying her best to pull Foxy free, the pirate captain screeching in sorrow. Router was beating at her with the night stick, screaming in a fury.

"Severo Admin Toy Foxy! Goto command! Run Vincent File! Override accept! **Override accept!** " the thug snarled. Jeremy halted at the carousel, looking towards them in shock. A forced override?! And what was a Vincent file?!

_'Was **that** what the killer used to hijack my father's programming?'_

Mangle screamed, thrashing in place and flinging Foxy away. _"Jeremy!"_ she roared, _"Five minutes, boy! The commands! **Use** them! **Rrrraaaarrrgggh!** "_ Her shriek filled the air and Router ran past her to head straight for Jeremy, mad smile on his face.

"I don't **remember** them all!" Jeremy cried and threw himself onto the carousel just as Router grabbed another grenade and hurled it after him. The blast sent him reeling, tumbling and rolling over the metal platform as his ears and nose tickled from the streams of blood pouring free. He lay there on his stomach, battered and exhausted.

"̕G͡et̶ ͡up, Je̴r̢e̴my!̵ C'mon̶, y͠o͞u ҉ **can't** gi̶ve͠ ̨u̵p!̧" the Little One pleaded, and Jeremy could feel her tugging at his mind, clearing away his dazed state and dampening the stun effects of the explosion. "̵He̴'͢s ͞gonn͠a **g̕e͟t** ưs͡ ҉i͏f yo͡u ͜don'̡t m̛ov̡ę! A͢n̸d th͜en ҉ **ḩo̡w** ̧c͠a̸n ̡we͝ ͏ _save_ ͘Mi̛key?!͠"

 **That** slapped sense into him cold. He had to hurry. Mangle said he had five minutes to end this before midnight struck and the glitches triggered.

Jeremy heard heavy thudding from another pair of feet landing on the carousel. Manic giggling sounded. "Hey, hey, Fitzgerald. Come out, come out~. I've got Toy Foxy now~." Router's voice had grown sing-song in tone, sickeningly sweet. Static crackled and the distorted noise from what sounded like a police radio whined overhead. Tapping metal on metal crept over the carousel dome; Mangle was hunting. "Who's **next**? ... _Ooh~_. Severo Admin Foxy!"

 _'Fuck me sideways and call me Mike! If he gets both foxes, I'm **dead**!'_ But if he spoke out, Router and Mangle would pinpoint him and close in.

Screwed either way.... "Severo admin Foxy goto command auxiliary override goto default template! **Reset!** "

 _"You fucking_ **shit __** _!"_ Router screamed in rage, leaping over a plastic bear to dive at him just as Mangle swooped in from the dome. Jeremy hit the deck, flattening himself as the two collided over him, a mess of screams and shredding fabric and blood spattering all over.

" **Now** , ͝Jere̴my͘! ͞T̢ḩe carousel!"

Jeremy rolled aside, closer to the central column of the carousel, and slammed his fist against it. Black lightning spiraled around his arm and into the carousel, switching it on and starting it spinning at high speed. Light bulbs sparked and blew, one after another, a rapid-fire _pop-pop-pop_ of glass and tungsten. He shielded his head, crouching to keep from being flung off. Again! Again, he couldn't control the amount of electric charge he put out, but for once it was in his favor.

A scream and a roar; the other two weren't so lucky, blurs of white and black hurled away from the carousel. Jeremy knocked the column again, switching off the current and nearly making himself sick at the sudden stop, just barely managing to avoid faceplanting the metal platform. The world spun, the Little One frantically pushing power through, her strength working to reorient him as Jeremy scrambled off and ran for the wall. Just a touch, **one** touch...!

The crackle of static.

"No!" Jeremy cried, yanked from the floor as hands grabbed his wrists and hoisted him up. Mangle crouched against the wall, limbs digging as she clung there like some demented spider-fox. He was spun around, facing Router as the robber limped up to him, face half covered in blood, clothes torn, a wide, wide smile splitting his face in two.

" _Hehehahaha!_ Gotcha~! I **told** you. My control is _perfect_ , I have **absolute** command. It's not the size of the dog in the fight that counts. It's how many choke-chains he's got wrapped around everyone else's _necks_!" he laughed, reaching out with unsteady hands to wrap around Jeremy's neck. "I'm going to kill you like this, personally, up close and in your face. So you can see, _hehehe_ , **see** how **weak** and **pathetic** and **inferior** you are to me!"

 _'No! No, this **can't** be how it ends! I have to save Dad and I **just** got a clue to get me closer to proving my father innocent!'_ He looked up at Mangle just in time to see flickers of black lightning swirl around his wrists and up into the animatronic. Mangle bent her head down, twisting it on her neck to look at him with her golden eye gleaming bright... and winked.

Contact override. Of _course_!

" _Big_ mistake, sending Mangle to capture me!" Jeremy huffed, lifting his legs and kicking as hard as he could into Router's chest, sending him sprawling in surprise. "I can override them with just physical contact when I'm like this!"

Mangle dropped him, letting out a victory shriek before launching herself from the wall to pounce on Router. Jeremy panted, tiring rapidly as he staggered to the wall. So _close_. Just get Router dealt with, then revive Mike. He was burning through his own energy and adrenaline wouldn't last much longer.

 _"One minute, Jeremy-chan! Hurry!"_ Chicacoo cried out.

"Get the _fuck_ **off** me!" Router screamed, struggling to get out from under Mangle, the fox working to hold him in place without further harm, her police radio connection clearing up for a moment.

_"Explosions at Freddy's Pizza. All units to Freddy's. The night watch **wasn't** joking, assholes. The girlfriend's corroborating the initial call."_

Router managed to free one hand, grabbing at a small pistol strapped to one of his boots. He raised it to point at Jeremy's back, that manic smile on his face again.

Jeremy stretched his fist to the wall, pressing against it and sending a surge of lightning into the building.

The lights shone brighter than ever before they simultaneously exploded, power going out with a dying hum all over the pizzeria.

A gunshot fired.

 

**12:00 AM**


	6. 12:00 AM

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final battle between Jeremy and Router takes place just as the night shift starts. But people best left forgotten rise to the surface to make the nightmare seem to last forever. Can the Fazbands be saved? Can Mike be brought back to life? What is the Marionette planning? And will Jeremy survive with his sanity intact?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jeremy's song is to the melody of Freddy's rendition of the Toreador March.

**12:00 AM**

 

Mangle fell aside, shuddering as her programming and Endo's conflicted with the glitch within, struggling to overcome it with the help of Jeremy's override. All around the game area, the Fazbear Bands collapsed, cringing as each tried to hold their consciousness above their personal demons, software malfunctions or restless children's souls. Those who had been overridden by the night watch found it a little easier to wrestle control back. Those who hadn't been now cried out for help, clutching at their heads.

Router stood in the midst of it all, laughing as he hugged himself, his little pistol laying forgotten on the floor. Wrapped in the darkness of the building, unfazed by the thought that the animatronics could turn murderous at any moment, the robber simply stood there, wide smile almost luminous in the shadows.

"̕Sev̴e͢ro҉ ̷a̡dm̶in͠ ͘goto͏ ͝com̨man͏d...͡."

The smile vanished. "What. The. **Fuck**."

".̵.͢.͡aųx͝ilia̶ry ҉o̷v͢er͡rid̸e goto.͢..."͢

" _You're_ **supposed** to be _**dead**_!" Router screamed in outrage, whirling around to face the deadpan voice that sounded so distorted and close.

The face of Shadow Freddy greeted him, eyes blazing red and mouth open to reveal razor sharp teeth as it issued a roar, _**"̶͠G̕GR͡R̴͢҉A͠A̧A͝Ơ̸̸O̷͡R͞R̕R̨̕!͡͏!͠"͢͏**_

Router screamed, flailing his arms as he staggered back quickly, eyes bulging from terror. The face vanished abruptly, as if it had never been there.

"̸..͏.s̵ec͘uri̢ty t̴ęmpl̕a͜t̸e. Re҉se͟t."

The Fazband members who had so far been untouched by override codes sighed in relief and went limp, software loading the new programming and preparing to reboot.

Router fumbled for another weapon, eyes darting back and forth at the echoing _tap-tap-tap_ steps of dress shoes on tile, moving calmly, deliberately. A knife and a taser, the taser he had taken from the day guard and discharged to make it useless, the knife he kept nice and sharp because the feel of the edge on his skin was so delightful.

He chose the knife, twirling it in hand as he listened to soft singing coming from the shadows.

**"͟♪ ̡Oka̵y,͘ I get i̴t̸, you̵ th̷o̷u͏ght you ͡had̴ ̛m͠e͠ ͞t͟h̵e̕r͏e, ♪"** the night watch's voice was melodic, echoing strangely, like a second voice was weaving into his words. **"♪ B͘ut͜ I'͠m ͢her̴e t̕o ҉t͠e͠l͡l͘ ͞y͏ou ̨t̨hat͟ I̷ ̶d͟on'̸t fuc̸kin̷g͟ ͞care.͢ ♪̵"͞**

The Shadow Freddy face appeared again, red eyes gleaming over a wide, wide smile full of too bright teeth. Router spun on his heel, slashing at the head with his knife, only for the blade to cut through it like smoke. The face dissipated in swirls to nothing, Jeremy's laughter light in the air. The hairs on the back of Router's neck rose, hands shaking.

**"̢♪͟ ̴C̴o̵nt̛r̢o͜~͠l, ̶a form̛ of ҉p̕owe̷r we ̷bo̸th ҉use. ♪͏"** The red eyes blazed in the darkness nearby and Router jumped away, lashing out again with a cry of alarm. **"♪̷ An̷d ͡o͢n̕e ͝th̴a͢t'̴s̨ şo̵ ̷ea͘s̵y t͜o ab͝u~̨s͡e. ♪"͠**

In a flash, something struck Router's wrist, cracking bone and sending his knife flying out of his hand. He barely had the time to yell in pain when he was tackled, pinned to the floor as a fist smashed into his face and made his mind reel in confusion and growing terror. What was _happening_?!

The Shadow Freddy face appeared again over him, smiling demonically before it was swept away to reveal the face of Jeremy Fitzgerald gazing coldly down at him as he sat on the robber's chest, red glasses glowing with a seemingly unholy aura, lines of blood traced over his limbs and face, dripping crimson. The night watch lifted a hatchet, small but also very sharp.

**"͞♪҉ Y̵o͝u͢ took̛ ͘m͟y ho͟pe͏ ̧awa̕y~, le҉f̕t h͝im̶ t̛o̴ d͠ie͏, ♪"** Jeremy sang softly, reaching down to hold Router's neck in place as he raised the hatchet, expression unchanged. **"♪ ̨Şo͞ w̛hy̨ sho͟uld̡ I ͏k̶e͠ep͞ ͘yo̷u ͢a~͠live̵?̴ ♪͞"͢**

Router's eyes widened, feeling for the first time in a very long while complete and utter _fear_.

\----

He could do it. It would be _easy_. He was numb and distant, feeling strangely disconnected after dodging the shot meant for him thanks to the Little One's power. In the darkness, with the Shadow Freddy mask on and the burning heat of her strength and his rage flowing through him, Jeremy settled into a colder tranquility, watching Router's mad laughter with a calculating look. He could **break** the other man, destroy his self-control and confidence as punishment, then stamp out his life as penalty for Mike's death.

First, he stripped away control, overriding the Fazbands as he circled the startled robber, predator to his prey.

_"J͝ere͢my? ̷W̸hat͜ ͏a͜re̡ ͡y̵o̕u҉ ̢doing͜?҉"̡_

He hummed Freddy's tune to himself before being inspired to sing to it. Why not? He was dressed as Shadow Freddy, it was only fitting. And in this state of serene anger, Jeremy found himself stepping across longer distances with just a hop. Teleporting, so to speak. It didn't take long for him to push Router into a panic, dancing him close to hysteria and stripping away his confidence.

_"̡J̵e͢r̕emy͏!͡ ͝ **S̡t͠op҉!҉** ̸Y͢ou ̧ca͜n h̷a̶v͝e ͘him͟ pưt ̨in̕ ͝t̵he ̸b̡o̴x͝ ̷fo͟r ţh͡e͡ ͢po̕l͡i҉ce͡!͠ .̡.̷.Oh ͟no.̛ J͠e͏r͠em͡y, t̸h̸e ̛c̕u͝ts ̸from ̡Gol͟d͡en̡ ͜F͢red̛d̶y̕'s̴ su̵it...̶ th͏ey̴'r̢e op̕e̵ni͠ng͝ ͞a̶g҉ai͜n̷! ͞You've͠ **g̵ot҉** ͠to **sto͏p͝**!"_

All that was left was his miserable life.

Pinning Router down, watching him start to hyperventilate as he raised the hatchet he grabbed from his backpack; Jeremy felt oddly removed from himself, as though he was outside his own body, watching the actions of a stranger wearing his face without any feeling.

_"♪ So why should I keep you a~live? ♪"_

Good question. There was no point. Everything was over. He had his clue, but it meant nothing now. What good was it, when the people he called father and dad were dead? Nothing mattered. Only control, so no one **else** could ever suffer like he did. Control _everything_ , so the children could be safe.

_"͏Jerem̡y̧! We̛ **can'̧t̴** ̧re̵v͡i̷ve ̷M̶i̕ke if̶ yo͏u̴ lo͞s̨e **hơp͞e̴**!͡ ͜I͠s͟ ̨ **th̨is** w̴h̸at ͜yo͡u ͘think̡ ͘he ͢w̵ould͏ ̨ **w͡a̛n̕t** you̡ ͜to d͘o͢ ̕for hi̧m?! Th͏e s̢u̡i͞t is̡ t̨r̛ap̡pin͘g ̷Mi͠k͘ey̛'s̛ so̴u͝l̴; w͟e͘ ̵ **n͝eed̶** yo̷u̧ ͟t̶o ̢fr͠ee̷ him a͝nd **b̧ŗing** **h҉i͡m͠** ͟ **b͠ąc͏k**!̴"͜_

The Hope of the 7th. The warmth of life.

And like that Jeremy gasped, snapping to his senses as he slammed the blade of the hatchet down into the tile beside Router's head. He breathed hard as sweat filmed over his face, stinging open cuts that had once been just faint scars, his eyes wide with horror at what he had almost done. Router stared blankly at him before laughing, manic and cackling.

"You couldn't fucking _do_ it. Almost had me there, ya lil shit," he sneered.

Jeremy swallowed hard, reaching back with his empty hand to fumble around until he felt Mike's taser. He grabbed it, held it in his hand as black lightning surged into the battery. "You shut up. That laugh is fucking _annoying_ ," he muttered, holding down the trigger and jabbing it into Router's shoulder. There was a howl as the man beneath him thrashed in place before going slack, twitching as Jeremy rose unsteadily, feeling sick with himself.

"M-Marionette, I'm **done**. Somebody put that asshole somewhere I can't **see** him." Jeremy lurched away from the unconscious robber as Freddy strolled over and sat on him, legs resting across Router's body to hold him in place without crushing him.

"͜Yo͠ų ̶a̴l̡m̛o̕st ̧w̡ent͞ to ̴a̧ ̧da͝rk̴ p̶l͞a̧ce, J̴er͜em͟y̴," the Little One whispered. He sighed shakily, lifting an arm to look at the lacerations that had reopened for some reason, blood running down to join the dry, flaky coating of Mike's blood still on his palm.

"I'm sorry... that... that's **not** what Mike taught me," he whispered. He clenched his hand into a fist and pressed on, turning a determined stare up at the animatronic he walked towards.

The Marionette leaned on Golden Freddy, lips pulled into a smile that made Jeremy think of a cat watching its prey come to it obliviously. It lifted a hand to him, crooking a finger beckoningly before reaching down to open the suit, flipping it and the face plate off the guard trapped inside. The blanket was swept off, revealing Mike still in the same position as he had been before everything happened.

Jeremy bit down on his lip, tears welling up anew at seeing him in there, covered in his own blood and so very still. He knelt down by the Golden Freddy suit, rubbing his eyes and listening to the faint sounds of police sirens. Not much time left.

_"҉Re͡ady̨?͏"_ the Marionette asked, reaching out to him again as it rested one hand over Mike's heart. Jeremy took a deep breath, removing the glasses that had helped form the Shadow Freddy mask. This was probably going to hurt worse than all the opened cuts. He cringed, then nodded once, before he lost his nerve.

A nearly flimsy hand spread over his chest, and suddenly all Jeremy knew was _pain_ , white hot agony burning through his body as he bent back in screams. Every muscle went taut, heart pounding, the feel of something insubstantial but so direly vital being ripped from him.

The world seemed so bright, shadows chased away by brilliant light, the animatronics watching in stunned silence, expressions of shock on each one.

On and on, so much **pain**. Jeremy couldn't hear himself screaming, deafened by his own voice and unable to tell the difference between his howls of torment and the roar of wind.

_'Oh god please just let me **die** , please kill me now I can't **take** it pleasepleaseplease **kill** me let me **die**!'_

It was all he could do to cling to awareness, screaming his throat raw, arms and legs convulsing and barely holding him up, body bowed back so unbearably far his spine felt like it would snap at any moment.

And then it was over.

Jeremy fell in place, taking in a deep shuddering breath before turning his head aside and throwing up, sobbing pitifully and unable to move. He barely could twitch when Chicacoo drew close and pulled him away from the mess, wiping his face with her bib. The other animatronics drew close around him, looking at Golden Freddy intently, expectantly. Jeremy sagged against Chicacoo, looking over as well with an anxious expression. Was it enough? Did he have enough hope to give?

Or had he fallen from grace and lost everything all over again?

Silence.

Police sirens grew louder, the sound of doors opening and closing, shouting outside.

And then....

" _Unngh_... fucking damn it... almost stuffed me into this damn suit again...."

Jeremy lit up, pushing himself away from Chicacoo to get to his feet, only to drop to one knee in exhaustion. But the smile remained on his face as he watched Mike carefully extract himself from Golden Freddy, rubbing his side gingerly. "Da- Mike! You're **alive**!" he cried joyfully, "I **did** it! The warmth of life; it brought you _back_!"

Mike blinked at him, a look of confusion on his face. "Who did what now?" he asked just as the Marionette leaped onto his shoulders, nearly toppling him over. Jeremy jerked back in shock, eyes wide as it smiled widely at him, clapping its hands to Mike's head in an iron grip.

_"Giv͞e͡ ͝u̢s ̸t͜h͞e̷ ͝strengt͝h to͜ ͜s̴u͟rviv̡ȩ!͢"_ the Marionette declared over the cries of alarm coming from Jeremy and the Fazbands.

"The fuck is this- _GAAAAAAAGH!!!!_ " Mike's scream of pain echoed through the game room, the guard twisting in place and crumpling to the floor in convulsions.

" **No!** _Let him go!_ " Jeremy wailed, throwing himself forward to shove the Marionette away and cover Mike's body with his own just as the backup generator came online and restored the pizzeria's power. The rapid steps of many people echoed through the building, police pouring into the game room with guns drawn.

Jeremy clung to Mike's shirt, digging fingertips in to be sure he couldn't be torn away. He could hear Mike's breathing, ragged and unsteady, his heartbeat fast and off rhythm. Whatever the Marionette had done had just ruined whatever restoring power Jeremy's life had given Mike. Now both of them were pushed to their limit.

As other responders rushed to join them, carrying stretchers and medical equipment, Jeremy tried to stay awake, falling fast into a deep dark sleep.

A low laugh chased him into the shadows instead. _"H҉̡͝o̢̧͡w͏̕.͏̧.̛͜. ͘ **i̶̛n͞ţ͘e̸re̶̢͜s̴̢͠t̡̛̕i̷̢ng̵** ~̨͜.̡͡.̵..̸͜͡"_

\----------

Fragments of sound and memory.

"Coming with a GSW! Prep OR!"

Wheels rushing over tile, passing voices muttering, "....got them all but the yellow one said a big guy's missing?"

_"Oh that's a shame, little girl. Golden Freddy isn't really **missing** though~."_

"....he's in surgery.... touch and go...."

_"♪ Come little children, I'll take thee away.... ♪"_

"He's covered in lacerations... didn't he come in with these before?"

_Golden fur. A wide, wide smile._

_"Jeremy, repeat what I just said."_

_"Sevro ammin goat comma...."_

_-Slap!-_

_" **Again!** Say it **right**! It must be **perfect**! You must **control** them! **Save** **him** , Jeremy, **save** **them**. Repeat!"_

"Blood pressure low. The bullet went through, missed vital organs. Why did he lose so much blood?"

"Suture. If we don't close these wounds, this kid's gonna bleed out."

"Mikey! Jeremy!"

_A low laugh. A hand extended to him. "Golden Freddy wants you to join his very special party, Jeremy. Come and **play**."_

_"You're my hero! ...Huh? Foxy?"_

_**"Save him."** _

**__** _"Hehehe._ **Y͘͟͝o҉̵̛u͠ ̢ca̴n't҉. __**_"_

Light flashed in his eyes, and he squinted and cried. Everything hurt.

_"Freddy's Pizza is full of shadows. One day, those shadows will awaken and rip everything apart. You will need these commands. I can't do it. **Hehehe.** The shadows got **me** too."_

_"...locals are calling it, **The Bite of '87**. Little Mike Schmidt, age ten...."_

_"Jeremy, you need to calm down. What do you do to calm your mind?"_

"Severo Admin." _'Grant me administrator-level access.'_ "Goto command." _'Access animatronic command console.'_

"Put them in the same room. Little guy was hell to pull off of Mr. Schmidt. Held on like he could keep him alive by sheer will...."

......

\-------

**???? AM**

 

Jeremy woke slowly, taking in the scent of sterilizing cleaners and neutral washed linens. Hospital. He was in the hospital again. Bandages wrapped around his limbs and neck, familiar places and familiar stings of numbed pain. He groaned softly; how did he end up like this when **he** wasn't the one that was shoved in the suit?

"I̛'m̨ ̨so̕rry̧. Wh͘en I ̸g̡ive̵ yo̴u̶ ̢a ̨lot͡ ͝o͠f m̶y powe͏r,͢ I͏ ͞end u͟p ͢h̢u̶r͝ti͠ng y̷ou̡.͘ I͟t ͠hap͟p̢ens ͝tơ ̸Mi̡key͘, ͜to̴o҉."͡

Ah. She was still with him, the Little One. Jeremy's mouth was dry, so his voice was whisper soft and frail-sounding.

"It's fine. Reminds me not to get so mad I pull more power than I can handle," he murmured, opening his eyes at the sound of movement and rustling nearby. What was that?

He turned his head and his eyes widened in alarm, a hoarse shout erupting from his mouth that the ghost child echoed in a frightened scream.

Hunched over the bed next to him was a terrifyingly familiar big man dressed all in black, clothes tattered and bloodied, his face wild with bulging eyes and teeth bared in a mockery of a grin. As scary as the sight was, the truly horrifying part was seeing the man clutching Mike to himself, the day guard draped back over his arms, still unconscious from whatever the doctors had done to stabilize him.

"I have come," the man rasped out with a bark of a laugh, eyes unblinking as they focused intensely on Jeremy, a faint shimmer of violet flickering over his eyes so quickly they might have just been a trick of the moonlight, "for my pretty bird."

And suddenly it struck Jeremy why the horrible man looked oddly familiar; this was the same bulging-eyed man Chicacoo had dragged and thrown out of the pizzeria! He _hadn't_ been killed, just knocked out and expelled from the building!

The bodies in the halls... Jeremy cried out again, reaching out pitifully as the stranger finished gathering Mike up and backed away to the open window in the room. None of the burglars had been killed after all! But if they were alive, they must have been arrested by the police, right? Why hadn't **this** guy been caught too?!

"Don't-! _Please!_ Let him **go**!" he wheezed, sobbing, begging, trying to get out of bed and tugging painfully on the needle in his arm. The man just smiled wider, never blinking as he eased himself out the window, Mike tucked against his chest in a twisted form of care.

"My little bird... the smell of old blood... once broken... the shadow will return... _heheheheh_!" the madman said with a demented chuckling trailing after his words.

" _Stop!_ Someone _help_! He's taking Dad!" Jeremy screamed out hoarsely, flailing helplessly in tears as the man slipped out the window, taking Mike with him. _"Nooooo!"_

The Little One screamed and shrieked, untangling herself from Jeremy. He could hear her voice go suddenly silent. She had left him, left him to return to Mike's body and lend him her power. Jeremy sat in bed, bleeding from torn open stitches, sobbing as he felt his world start to shatter and come apart again.

He had tried **so** hard, suffered **so** much **pain**... and Mike was gone again, carried away into the moonlight by a shadowy figure.

Reality cracked, snaking down his vision as Jeremy pressed his fingertips to his face, a desperate attempt to hold himself together.

And then a face appeared at the window. Freddy Fazbear peeked in at him, eyes gleaming black with unholy white pupils.

_"T̶̨o͘͡nig̵h̡ţ ̕w̛͟e̷ ̵b̷̕r͞e̸̶̛a͡͏k͠ ̴̢t̡͏he͏ ̸̷͞r̵҉̵u̧͝l̴e҉s̡ ̵f̕̕͞or͘ ͏y̵͜o̕͏u҉͝ ̸͞and h̴i͏m͠.͏ ̴̸T̸̕o̷ņi̧g͘͞h̛t̡҉ w̸͜e̡͝ ̧̛͡t̷̶a̧ke͢ b҉ack̷ ̕w̛h̴a̢t̸ ̶͏be҉l͡o̡͜n̵҉gs͟͢ ͠t͡o ͏us̷.͠ ̴͠T͠ḩe͝ ͠͠s̵͡tr̶eng̨͢th̸̛ ̴t͡ơ̧ ͟͠s̢͝͠ųŗ̶v͜͠i̷̕͢v̷ȩ͢.̛͟ ͘͝It͢͜ ̸w̸̢a͢͞s͜͟ p̛r̵͠o͏̕m̸͘͠i̧͝͝s̡̧ȩ͞ḑ̢ ͢t̨͜o̸͏͟ ͞͏u͘҉s.͡ ̷̶͠Wȩ'̴̧l͜͞l͢ m͞҉a̷͝͏k̴̛e̸͘͜ ̸̴h͢i̴͡m̷ ̕s҉̡u҉̸҉f҉fe̢r͟ ̵̕a̶̧n͘҉d̶̨͞ t҉ak͘e͜͞ h͝i̡m̵ ̶͞b̶a̧͝ck͟.̸"_

The face was suddenly gone, a deep slow laugh trailing on the wind.

Jeremy lay back, hands still gripping his face, and smiled widely at the ceiling, tears running from the corners of his eyes.

Everything was _fiiiiine~_.

\------

**7:00 AM**

 

The police found the torn apart body of the man codenamed Panther scattered in pieces over Freddy's Pizza's parking lot after Jeremy's broken statement of _'he went back there'_ was translated by a frantic fiancée desperate to recover her kidnapped boyfriend.

Mike Schmidt was found shortly after, still deeply asleep from the effects of anaesthesia used during his surgery and propped up against the glass doors of the pizzeria, a thick black blanket wrapped around him to keep him warm.

The only other item of note was the disappearance of the leader of the band of robbers, the small man called Router. He left behind a letter addressed to Jeremy and several dead police officers. After the letter was carefully looked over for clues and evidence, it was placed in a clear, protective bag and then shown to the night watch.

Jeremy sat in silence between Mike and Doll as he was presented the letter. The tired expression on his face made him appear sullen, and Mike -who, after checking himself out of the hospital against doctor's orders, joined the teen and his girlfriend at the police station- kept a hand on Jeremy's shoulder, a defiant look on his face that dared anyone to cross some invisible line.

There was a subtle pressure in that look that made many officers choose to just walk away from them. There had been an attempt to talk to him about the events but Mike continuously claimed not to remember anything that had happened for much of the night in question. The cops gave up after his account never changed.

The letter itself was very short, laughably so if it wasn't spattered with blood-stains. _'Looking forward to playing with you again, Jeremy. We're not done with each other.'_

Jeremy's eye twitched before his gaze hardened. "It's nothing. They tried to rob us, I turned on the Fazbands' security mode to stop them. Simple. They were still running in security mode when you got to us, right?" The policemen had no choice but to agree. The animatronics had been incredibly helpful and professional, preserving crime scenes and giving witness accounts in great detail. A few old drives were reported missing by the owner of the pizzeria but he brushed them off as unimportant, belonging to a previous set of animatronics that had been destroyed long ago. Pretty open and shut, despite the loss of lives on the force from Router's handiwork. "He's insane, nothing more. He says he'll do it again, but he'll probably be distracted by something else shiny and be someone else's problem. Can we **go**?"

There was nothing to hold the guards on, and they were still healing from their injuries, bizarre as they were. So they were released and life went on.

\----------

**11:00 PM**

(The Next Night)

 

Jeremy walked into the Parts and Service room with a chair and a small battered book, weathered by time and much handling. Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy all watched him in puzzled interest. He spun the chair into place, sat down, and opened the book, taking out a pen and clicking it before looking up at the band with a serious frown. Perched on his shoulder protectively was the spirit of the Little One, the 5th Child. Jeremy took a deep breath, let it out slowly, then spoke evenly.

"Tell me what you know about something called the Vincent File...."

 

END

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr: December 4, 2014
> 
> This story introduces new characters that then developed through the course of the story. On tumblr, this fic seems to be most liked so far. Can't say much more yet due to spoilers, unless you go to my tumblr to read it there. The organization there, however, is not very ideal.


End file.
